Total Alkalinity, General Hardness, Carbonate Hardness

[Michaela521]

I was trying to read an article that explained what those 3 things are and just gave up becuase I was starting to get confused. So I am just going to do it the easy and fast way. Of the total alkalinity, General Hardness, and Carbonate hardness which ones should I be testing and what number or measurement should I get. Besides fish I keep plants in the tank if that should matter. They are the easy kind of plants. Thanks for the help.

 

[The-Wolf]

the most important of the three is pH
for an introduction to water chemistry click the link in my sig