the simple fact of the matter is the pet store just won't accept him or any other fish back, even if I wanted to,
Take it to a different store. Try several, one of them will take him if he is in good health.
since he looks rather small right now, they'd think they don't need such a HUGE tank as the one you're descibin' me
Had you bothered to research the species before buying it as you should have done, you would know that common plecs DO grow to well over 12 inches in length and DO require the size of tank and type of setup I mentioned. Go ahead and ask them in the catfish section, check it out in the species index. Go and find a fully grown specimen and see how big they really grow. I am not wrong. He's small now because he is a
juvenile fish. He needs SPACE to grow and you do not have enough of it at the moment. You either need a 5-6 foot tank or you need to sell or give him to a fish shop who has room for him.
If you keep him in the ten gallon he will outgrow it and be unable to even turn around let alone swim properly.
Blame teh fish store, don't take it out on innocent people!
No, I will blame
you. Most fish stores do indeed mis-sell a vast number of species and they are wrong to do so, but
YOU are the one buying the fish so it is
YOU who must do the research and provide the correct setup for the fish since
YOU will be the one looking after it.
There is no room for laziness in this hobby, if you want fishkeeping to work, get off your backside and do the research the fish require you to do before buying even so much as a tank. It is
not the job of fish stores to do everything for you.