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I wanted to start another tank for ciclids. But looking in then local fish stores their stocks aren't promising. At ******** they cary ciclids but there never heathly looking, nor clean and full of dead fish. I was just wondering if anyone in this area knows some good lfs.


Please dont mention shop/company names unless you have positive comment. In this day and age it is legally very easy for websites to be closed down by the company that has been bad mouthed. Its happened to other websites in the past so we are very strict about this policy - Thanks Lindy



Last edited by Lindy at 21-Oct-2004 23:53

If you want to drive about three hours southwest to Springfield, they have an excellent specialty cichlid store called Cichlids n' Salt Tropical Fish. If you're interested, PM me and I'll give you directions.

You can look up the following in the Yahoo Yellow Pages.

Aqua World This looks like a trashy hole-in-the-wall and it's out in Ellisville, on the north side of Manchester a bit west of Clarkson. Just past a Steak 'n' Shake, I think. Anyway, this place is great. Huge selection of equipment, and I have occasionally seen fish that I've never seen before in the St. Louis area, including Leaf Fish and true Siamese Algae Eaters. Highly recommended.

Beldt's Aquarium and Pet Shop This place is in Hazelwood. It's really huge, over 300 tanks. I think they claim to be the largest in St. Louis, or maybe the state, or maybe the Midwest. Regardless, I'd recommend it.

Clayton Pet Emporium: A little place in S. Hanley. Seen it from the outside, looks small (sometimes a good sign, sometimes not!) but I have never been in it. I think they might stock a few fish that are harder to find.

The Gilded Guppy: On St. Charles Rock Road, south of 70. Crammed tight with a fairly run-of-the-mill selection, but I've occasionally seen some uncommon fish like Knives and Dojo Loaches.

Pet Marketplace: On Watson at Laclede Station. Big selection, though mostly run-of-the-mill stuff. I've occasionally seen a species of Cory that I've never seen before and the like, but that's about it.

Tropical World Pets: On Watson between Elm and Laclede Station. Nothing all that special, but if I recall they have a reasonable number of large fish that may or may not be for sale.

If you are interested in driving down to Rolla (half the distance to Springfield, it's where I went to college) there are a few fish stores.

Bowles Aquarium and Golden Fish Aquarium are both off Highway 63 (a.k.a. Bishop), the main drag through town. Bowles is the better of the two in my opinion (smells bad inside, though) but both of them sometimes have fish that I've never seen anywhere else.

A bit further than that is St. Robert, MO. There's a store called Kats Pets. It's run out of the home of a very nice woman; I've seen a few rarities there, too, but I'm not sure if it's worth driving out there to check. You could call ahead of time.

Last edited by elchip at 14-Oct-2004 22:47

Thank you all. I've been to aqua world, but that was before i had my current tank cycled, they did have alot of good fish there. As for petsmart, good for equipment - but none of there fish are healthy, its lucky to find a tank without a dead fish or 2 in it. Thanks elchip for all those stores i'll have to cheach them out.