sounds like you're in the right path. so you're getting the Apex + Trident for the Alk/Ca/Mg testing, right? The setup is not hard in my opinion, since it's all app based with walkthrough tutorial in the app. Just follow the instruction and you will be fine. Also Apex's customer service is legit if you run into road blocks.
I heard the "coding" aspect of it is kinda complicated, but I wouldn't be diving into that per-say.