Amateur hobbyist, trying to move bigger

Hi everyone

I've been keeping a small tropical community (10 gallon) for a few months now and I seem to have it under my belt. I have been looking to get a larger tank, primarily so I can have larger, more exotic specimens. I recently came across a deal for a 55 gallon tank with canister filter, aquarium stand, props, lighting, and backup filter for $200. Is this a good deal? Do you guys have any tips I may not be able to find online about setting up this tank? I was hoping to foster a semi-aggressive community- maybe with some sharks.

Thanks for any advice

Hi guys, thanks for the repiles thus far. The filter is a Rena XP2 for tanks up to 75 gallons, it has only been used for 4 months. The tank itself has only been used for about a year and a half (must've used a different filter for the 1st year and 2 months, which is being included as a back up filter). I do not know the brand of the tank, lights, stand, but it is apparently all functioning as new. I was able to bring down the price to $180. Thoughts?

Tank's mine

now I need some advice on getting this thing going- I don't know too much about this yet, so forgive me if I ask some dumb questions ;] - My least favorite thing to do is water changes with my current 10g. Vacuuming fish poop from the pebbles just, isn't quite my thing. Is there any way to minimize how often I will have to change the water in my 55g tank? I ask particularly because changing 25-30% of that will be a much bigger ordeal. Will getting multiple filters make any difference? I know an obvious answer is LESS FISH but I can't help but want the most, the biggest, and the best in there. I've been reading on here about fishless-cycling- I don't quite even understand what a cycle is.. at any rate, how long does the whole, throwing shrimp in the tank thing take to work before I can start getting fish in there? I'm anxious to get some exotic beauties!

Thanks for your help.

I'd like to add that although I just dropped $180 on the setup, I am a poor college student with many other expensive hobbies draining me (photography, computer-gaming, longboarding, kendo, turntablism, piano, etc) and would like to spend as least money as possible on the unnecessary things, so if there are DIY work arounds to anything feel free to mention them