the place in valley park you are referring to is called Andy's Animals. i've never been there but i heard it's awesome
pet market place and tropical world are alright (tropical is great for african cichlids!), but they always vary. it's either i go there and i see their fish look great, or i go their and a good percentage of their fish look sick (mainly at pet market place).
the place i go (for fish only) is aqua world, and that's on gravois right past chippewa, in the city. their tanks are spectacular and their fish all look like their in really good shape. i've talking to the people that work there latelty and they've been telling me that they really stress the policy of not selling fish unless they're sure they're doing well.
i was gonna get some rams from them, and i was just looking at them and they looked kinda stressed, and i told the guy "they look great, but they're not very active" and he just told me "yeah i agree. why don't you wait a little bit and come back in a few days?"
from my own observations of other pet stores, i don't really see that kind of honesty anywhere else LOL. the only thing is that aqua world is EXPENSIVE. but i guess what you pay is what you get...that's why i buy my supplies from everywhere else and just get my fish from aqua world
