Hi Olivia. I am so sorry to hear of your loss.
Just so you know koi & goldfish put out a great deal of ammonia in their waste. There aren't many species that can be housed with them and be comfortable. Tolerate it yes, be comfortable no.
I'm probably to late, but you should take pictures. When I wanted my boss (I used to work in a petstore) to change some facet of animal care, I used the internet to find the most gruesome images, made up a speech/lecture and then cornered his penny pinching butt somewhere public and let him have it! LOL!
If you go to your most popular stores, you will have better luck getting them to change than you will with the small independently owned stores.
And what you really want to push for is the information they are giving out to the public. They are still going to do what is cheapest and easiest for them, especially if it doesn't have an immediate effect.
In my store it was rare to have an animal that was there for longer than a couple of weeks.
Although since you are advocating a diet change, which more varied/related sales, you might get a really friendly reception.
Also in my rescue work, I often made public lectures about the proper care and feeding of exotic animals. My boss loved it & hated it, it brought it more related sales but cut back on impulse buys.
You might call around and find someone who is doing reptile rescue who is vocal in the community who can add the axolotl to their "lectures".
As for koi or goldfish being aggressive. They aren't. At least not compared to the Oscar. But they will nibble on anything that catches their eye.
Again, I am really so sorry to hear of your loss, my deepest sympathies.
Sharon