Dependant visa issues

I have recently married my longterm boyfriend from Africa. I am able to prove out long distance relationship with old emails, photos' and matching passport stamps for vacations all over the world. I am a British citizen and have been on a work visa here for over 5 years. Having the unpleasant experience of visiting immigration last week to apply for a dependant visa for my husband I was asked many questions and to supply even more documents and photos than they had orginally asked for in the application form. I was wondering if anyone else has been through a similar process and could share their experience with me and figure out what immigration would like to see and any idea of how much income they consider enough for dependancy.