hey all,

been reading through this group off and on since i started thinkin'
about ponding in '96. great group and with the old dejanews and now
google a fine source of info.

i will finally start digging the hole for my small goldfish/water
garden tomorrow. here's the plan and i have a few immediate questions
on the finer things of the install:

i live in zone 9 of the good ole us of a. the pond will be formal in
nature 8x4x2 deep with two shelves facing away from the viewing area
(approx. 450 gals.) and will be situated under a patio cover recieving
3 hrs. of direct sun and 6 hrs. of indiect. will be using 45 mil.
liner, a supreme 700 mag drive pump, and a bio force 1000 filter. pump
will flow about 90% to the filter and discharge through a decorative
urn laid on its side side into the pond. i'll split 10% to a spitting
statue. oh, and all elec. will be plugged into a gfi.

first round of ?s:

1 what type (if any) of prefilter do these pumps have. if the pump
needs to be lifted for cleaning, how do you guys cope with the extra
wiring/tubing left in the pond in order to raise the pump?

2 how to run the tubing/ wiring for pump out of pond? electrical
should probably have to be put in conduit to gfi. can i put the tubing
and elec. through a piece if, say 2" pvc on the edge of the liner and
put my coping stones between this pvc?

this'll get me going. there will be lots of other ?s to follow.

glad to be in on these discussions and hope to pass on some knowledge
in the future.