The plastic tank and aluminum plates will work fine. Make sure that you thoroughly clean the plastic container to remove any oils/dirt/grease that may be imbedded from manufacturing. Same goes with the aluminum plates. Some manufacturers, depending on what original use the plates where intended for, even coat their aluminum with a very thin coat of plastic, so you have to make sure you scrub all that off too. If you are just using this setup to test, the aluminum will work fine, but in most cases you'll probably want to change to lead plates. They are easier to work with and don't require constant cleaning like the aluminum plates.
Deionized water should be fine, as long as you are sure it also is free from any mineral or chemical contamination. If not, use distilled.
A battery charger has been know to work, as long as it is NOT an automatic charger and the piece you are anodizing is small enough that the voltage and current provided by the charger are not exceeded. Battery chargers are not really recommended, but if it as you have to work withe and you should review many of the posts here that apply to them. The link that scocklin provides has information on a circuit you will have to build and add to the charger so that you can control it for anodizing.
If the piece you are anodizing has steel fittings, you can't anodize the piece. The acid will dissolve the fittings, and it will contaminate the electrolyte solution. Depending on the fittings, you may be able to mask them in some way, but you will still be running a risk if the mask leaks.
Aluminum cathodes don't anodize. They are on the 'cathode' side of the circuit and only the 'anode' side anodizes. They do, however, tend to become covered with scum and salts and do have to periodically cleaned.
scocklin has described the current density. My only addition is that you anodize at 6amps per sq/ft as opposed to 4.5amps per sq/ft. Althought 4.5 works fine, from testing I've found that 6amps has a better success rate.
Edited to add: Don't even think about using fabric dye. You'll get very little support here if you have problems (very little = none). Fabric dye has been known to work, BUT, not very often or reliably. Also, being organic, it fads rapidly in sunlight. I don't know the prices for fabric dye around you, but around me, comparing the price to make a concentrated solution of it and the cost of anodizing dye, its not worth the few pennies saved. Stick with anodizing dye.
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