Hi TS ,
i personally think u don't have to come out with such expenses unless its a super high tech tank as most lfs can provide decent advices .
LFS you regularly frequent will be best bet for proper advices .
google has been my best fren when i set up my tank and local + foreign forums has been informative as well.
another source of help has been some of my own kakis , most of them through interacting in this forum .
hope it helps.
PS: i have a small WA group , pm me ur number if u need help and i add u in .