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I have had a flourishing 55 gallon aquarium for months now and a couple of the fish have been having babies. I needed another tank to put them in so they wouldn't be eaten by all the other fish, so I set out to get a smaller 10 gallon aquarium. Aside from the tank itself, you need a lot of other components. Here's a quick guide to setting up a thriving tropical aquarium.

Things you will need:
Aquarium (With Hood)
Gravel
Filter
Heater
Thermometer (optional)
Aereator (With Tubing) (optional)
Bubble Fixture (optional)
Background (optional)
Background Adhesive (optional)
Aquarium Decor (optional)
Water Conditioner (optional)
Power Strip (optional)

First of all you need to pick out your aquarium. Figure out where you want to put it and how big you want it to be. Choose a tank style that will fit well into your house and look good. Many aquariums come with stands if you don't have something to put yours on. Make sure your aquarium comes with a hood and a light. There are quite a few different kinds of aquarium light bulbs that will change the tint of your aquarium. Some can really bring out the color of your fish. Technically you can have a fish tank with just the tank and water, but it won't look too great, the fish won't be too happy, and you will have to constantly change the water. Remember, a lot of these things are optional, but the leading cause of death in fish is stress. The better your tank environment, the less stressed your fish will be. Make sure to pick out a good place for the tank BEFORE filling it up. Once it's full, an aquarium becomes VERY heavy. Be sure wherever you put the tank, it can endure the stress of the weight of the tank over a long period of time.

Now get some gravel that will look good in your tank. There are lots of varieties of aquarium gravel to choose from. Just like decorating your house, you want to pick a gravel with colors that accent your whole tank environment. I personally like blue or green.

Now you want to pick out a filter. There are lots of filters to choose from that function in different ways. A filter is not an absolute must, but if you choose to go without one you will need to change the water, almost every week to keep it from rotting. A filter keeps the ecosystem clean and healthy and is crucial for keeping fish happy.

If you want to keep tropical fish (most fish you see in a pet store besides goldfish are tropical) you will need to keep the tank at a temperature they can do well in. The optimal temperature for tropicals is about 78. They can survive into the 60s, but not much lower than that. If your home temperature is always in the high 70s you may be able to keep tropicals alive, but as your room temperature drops, your fish may start dropping off too. I highly recommend getting a heater and keeping its thermostat at around 78. I like to have a thermometer on the side of the tank just to make sure the fish are doing ok and the heater doesn't need adjusting.

Depending on how many fish you have, or your decoration preferences, you may want bubbles in your tank. Fish breathe oxygen just like us, but they get it from the water. Just like us, if there isn't enough oxygen around we can get out of breath and even die. The more fish you have, the more oxygen they will need. Oxygen is absorbed into the water from the surface, but adding bubbles keeps your tank rich in air and your fish stay happy. I recommend getting an aereator and a bubble fixture. Make sure the aereator comes with some tubing to pass air into your tank. There are many different kinds of bubble fixtures including a simple bubble stream coming up from the gravel, plants that leak bubbles, bubble walls, and bubble volcanoes.

Now that you have the essentials in place, you want to worry about aesthetics. Because a fish tank is clear, you will be able to easily see through to whatever is behind it. Without a background to the tank, the colors of the fish often appear washed out and bland. These backgrounds stick to the back of your aquarium and make it look like it's in a real river or ocean. You can also get a huge spectrum of colors. You can cut them to fit the tank and tape them on, or use a kind of adhesive you can get at the pet store. I recommend this because it makes the job SO much easier and makes the picture much more vibrant and clear.

Now pick out some aquarium plants and decor. Getting more plants makes your tank look much better, and provides your fish with a home to hide in. They feel safer with a lot of plants and hiding spaces. You can also pick out any rocks or decorations that you like. You want the fish to have room to swim in, but you don't want the tank to look sparse or barren.

You don't absolutely need water conditioner, but it really helps to get the ecosystem going. Fish need a certain level of nitrates and some kinds of bacteria in the water to be healthy. Water conditioner adds these key ingredients and takes the chlorine out of the water. Fish will be poisoned by the chlorine in our tap water if they are put directly into it. Leaving water out for 24 hours will usually allow the chlorine to evaporate from it, making it safe for fish. 

You will probably want to get a power strip because you will need a power outlet for the light fixture, filter, aereator, and heater. Once you have all the materials, you are ready to set up your tank.