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 Aquarists Gene-banking Corals
for Conservation Efforts

While this has been slowly building for the last 3 years, we are just now materializing the website. Please stay tuned as this officially launches over the next few weeks

~ Dr Charlie Gregory 9/6/26

Reefbank

Reefbank is a community of aquarists and scientists working together to document, preserve, and protect coral species that are at risk of extinction in the wild. People participating in the reef aquarium hobby can join the initiative and become part of a growing network dedicated to coral conservation.

We believe that building a network of aquarists supported by professional experts—including coral scientists, geneticists, and veterinarians—can create a powerful and unique approach to coral conservation. By combining gene banking, responsible aquarium husbandry, scientific data collection, and the collective capacity of the reef aquarium community, Reefbank can help preserve coral biodiversity for the future.

Register Your Aquarium

Register your tank for free and use the Reefbank database to document the coral species you maintain and the genetic lineages you care for.

Responsible genetic tracking and accurate records can help scientists and conservationists understand what exists in captivity and provide valuable resources for future conservation and restoration efforts.

Reefbank members have access to guidance and support from professional coral scientists and a veterinary-supervised community focused on responsible coral husbandry, documentation, and conservation.

Building a Real Coral Gene Bank

Reefbank is developing physical coral gene-banking hubs that maintain living coral genetic resources. These efforts are supported through grants, private donations, nonprofit partnerships, and responsible commercial activities.

For example, Reefbank has invested in a commercial collecting license that allows us to legally collect and provide broodstock and seed-bank material while helping offset the costs of collection. We can also support the program by responsibly supplying snails, cleanup-crew invertebrates, and other rare or quarantined Caribbean species.

The goal is simple: create an economically and ecologically responsible system that helps fund conservation while expanding access to healthy, responsibly sourced marine life.

And there is an educational component at the heart of it.

Students at the College of the Florida Keys can participate in collection, husbandry, documentation, and research as part of their classroom and extracurricular education. Students gain hands-on experience while contributing directly to a real conservation effort.

It just works.

A Conservation-Minded Aquarium Community

Reefbank membership can also provide opportunities to buy, sell, and trade corals through the database, provided those activities support the organization's mission of accurately documenting, preserving, and conserving coral biodiversity.

We support responsible coral websites, aquaculture operations, and dealers that provide healthy, ethically sourced coral. We want to help grow a reef aquarium hobby that is educational, transparent, responsible, and inclusive.

We are transparent about our experience and capabilities, and we are committed to encouraging the next generation of aquarists—young and old—to become active participants in worldwide coral reef conservation and restoration.

The reef aquarium community represents an enormous, largely untapped resource for conservation.

Reefbank is about connecting that community with science and turning individual aquariums into a network for conservation.

Our Two Initial Priorities

1. Caribbean Gorgonian Conservation
Banking and genetically mapping Caribbean gorgonian species that have been devastated by recent marine heat events and disease.

2. Pacific Coral Conservation
Banking rare and underappreciated Pacific coral species whose wild populations are known to have declined.

Our goal is to make sure that losing a coral species in the wild does not mean losing it forever.

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In the News

From Idea to Reality: The Evolution of ReefBank

Interview with ReefBank Director

Why is ReefBank a non-profit

June 5, 2023

Coral is melting in the Florida Keys. At the same time, aquarists are wondering if they can do anything to help. There exists a disconnect between Atlantic coral permitting and the ability for the hobbyist trade to help with coral conservation and restoration. This can change with a strategic implementation of permits, accountability, and passionate participation

September 12, 2023

Unite the clans. A convergence of reasonable, rational, passionate, and motivated professional aquarists at an aquarium conference explored realistic implementation of an aquarist run network for coral genetic banking.

January 22, 2024

In the spirit of the new year, we are at least on the books as paperwork organized by Dr. Charlie Gregory, Marine biologist and veterinarian specialized in coral and founder of the Reef Institute, a successful 501c-3 focused on coral education, research, and restoration of Florida species. With experience and wisdom in non-profit organization, Dr. G will attempt a second rodeo for worldwide coral conservation in light of disturbing global trend's and an amazing underutilized netwrok of aquarists.

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