I'd try to reuse the media; boil, bleach, bake, h2o2, see which one is the best for cleaning your old media. 5 dollars saved :bounce: Since you have two 10g, why not 1 a shrimp, the other more of a community tank?
I haven't read much bad things about small corys with shrimps, maybe you can use those as your schooling fish with the shrimps? Rams are definitely a no, because it seems to be a hit/miss with their personality and taste. Most other schooling fishes will snack on the shrimplets. So I vote small corys or ottos for a schooling fish with the shrimps.