okay, so the directions were based off multiple fountains-I think its one set of directions for all the companys fountains! They werent specific enough and it took several tries- but I finally figured out that the pump had to be connected to the long tube coming from the fish. Ive never had a fountain before so I had to think through why it wasnt working the first time I plugged it in. It is so beautiful and I just love it! It does splash a small bit so I cant leave it where I set it up at but I really do love it and im so glad I got such a great deal-as the price was marked down over 70!