I've had a 180 gallon tank, it look very very nice. with about 8 fish that's around 8 inches. don't expect to put too much fish or too little fish in saltwater tank. The water quality should be taken serisously. Clean and clear is the first factor, but all the biological bedding and filtration, chemical filtration, will cost you arm and leg in the long run. Depends, I would say if you want to keep your fish tank at the maximum performing level, where everything is optimize, you would be looking to spend over 5k just to have the setup right. not kidding, you will need a a/c and heater tube for water, protein skimmer, steralizer, tank, coral bedding, live rocks, bio balls, overflow tank and stand itself, the plexi glass box under the tank. OMG~ so much more to list. but those are the very standard things you need for a tank over 100 gallon. do the math~ o~ and salt is very expensive too~ to change 20% water on a bi weekly basis.