10 Gallon Help?

[PringlesLFE]

My 10 gallon has finished cycling and I first introduced 3 zebra danios to it and then a few days later, 6 pygmy corydoras.
I have 3 artificial plants (1 large, 2 medium) and 2 decorations which provide (IMO) a small amount of hiding locations.

1.Although pygmy cories are so heavily recommended for smaller tanks due to their size and limited waste production, I'm worried that:


* Their barbels will be damaged or they will be accidentally crushed(Using petstore-purchased gravel--currently almost the same size as the pygmy cories
* My zebra danios seem to be bullies and do not stay in the upper regions, but act as if they own the entire tank (Even though there's only 3, I understand it's generally recommended that they get at least 20 gallons due to their high activity levels.)


--I would actually be able to move my zebra danios (after buying 3 more) if this continues to be a problem to my roomate's tank soon as he had just began cycling his tank a few weeks ago.

----I was initially planning to get a trio of pygmy/sparkling gouramis to make a "pygmy tank" but now i'm finding a few statements that they may actually view my pygmy cories as a snack. confused

-Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Sand makes a much better substrate for cories in general than gravel (gravel is ok if it is rounded, definitely not ok if it is rough/sharp though- however sand will allow the cories to feed more naturally). For the danio's i would advise adding another 2-3 to their group as this will encourage them to shoal more and concentrate on each other- they shouldn't go for the cories. Adding a cave to the tank will offer the cories some private space to go in if they choose to .