Feeding Euphyllia for calcium?

[AndrewRosenbaum]

I've recently bought a hammer coral and he's been eating what ever pellets land on him. I wasn't sure if fish pellets were too healthy for him so i try to sprinkle the food away from the hammer. I don't feed him directly but do these coral absorb and build their skeleton directly and only from dissolved calcium in the water or can they also use calcium they ingest?
Say I feed the hammer a small piece of shrimp with a bit of shell on it. Would he be able to use that calcium in constructing his skeleton?

Its a random thought that came up, and if they can ingest calcium, could they also ingest iodine (lots in shrimp anyways), strontium, etc??

I would have to feed my coral a few times a week as my lighting is only 3 T5s 24W and a day T8 36 watt over a 30 gal tank.

 

[cjk76]

I think they would get trace elements from their foods but it would not digest shells. And to get the amount of trace elements, you would over feed and cause nitrate and phosphate spikes. You could try it, but even people feeding reef crack, a very diverse food, keep their levels stable for coral growth and color

 

[Theodoro]

Hi,
I never fed mine, an aquarium is stable enough for its growth.