How do I know when I haven’t fixed a problem?

[s_tempest]

Trying hard not to ask a dumb question here, but ...
At what point can you tell if you fixed things or not?

I read a lot that nothing good happens quickly in a reef tank, and I get that. But we’re also told to slowly make adjustments to lighting, to flow, to chemistry when a coral isn’t looking so great. And it seems that many signs of problems can have more than one cause.
So, a Question for those with more experience: once you try something to fix a sign of a problem, when do you decide that your fix does nothing and you need to try something else. How long should it take to see a change? I ask not because I need instant gratification. I just want to get a sense of when do you know your fix is making a positive change.
if I move a coral, do I wait a week, a month, six months before I can say “nah, that didn’t help things. I gotta try something else.”? Likewise, if I change or add flow, if I adjust my lights, or I change alk or some other parameter?

I’ve asked a couple of questions here on R2R, and this “I don’t know how to know if the things I am doing are doing anything” seems central to a lot of them.

 

[virtual reality]

Sounds like a easy question. I think it depends on what coral you are talking about.
You just don't want to do to many things at once. Moving something around in the tank, I would give it a week. Everyone is different. Tell us what you are trying to do, that helps.

 

[WVNed]

I generally wait 3-5 days. Generally I am not expecting a fix. I am looking for signs of better-worse-same.
Keep in mind some changes are much less dangerous. Turning your lights down 20% is a lot safer than turning them up 20%.
Adjusting your chemistry. Most have a maximum safe daily change. Know what it is before you adjust.
Measure twice pour once.

 

[KrisReef]

Three weeks, or if the coral dies then you know your change failed.

Also, the answer depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Getting parameters to stabilize after making a change in dosing can take a few minutes to test for but a few days of repeated doses might be long enough to tell if you are going in the right direction or if you are adding too quickly or too slowly but all of these kinds of changes and figuring out if you are going in the right direction depends on where you start and where you are trying to get too.

Just answering 3 weeks is something that a joker like myself can throw out there but really we need to know where you are, how you got there, and where you are trying to get to and how and what you are going to do to get there before we can provide a helpful number, IMO.

You are on the right track, just need more information on your situation and the goal you are trying to achieve to give real advice. Gl