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I recently bought an Apistogramma macmasteri, which is housed in a ten-gallon tank with three corys, three platys, and five pearl danios. I might be worrying about nothing, but even before I added the danios, the apisto never seemed to get any of the flake food, as the platys are little pigs, and she can't seem to find the cichlid pellets I put in for her--the corys wind up eating them instead, and the apisto winds up eating what's left of the corys' pellet. She seems to be doing fine, otherwise; she's not acting withdrawn or hiding or seeming ill or injured. I think I may have put in too coarse of a substrate--the tank was originally intended for a (now dead) gourami, so the substrate is smooth pebbles, and I was oblivious and didn't even give it a thought when I got the apisto. Could she be having trouble getting the cichlid pellets because they fall between the pebbles?

Probably a food recognition issue, and being an apistogramma, rather like rams they can be slow starters and very shy, so you might find the solution lies in simply persisting. Rather like rams, many of them arent too keen on commercial foods and pellets and take a while to warm to them. To prevent loss of condition while they are getting used to the new foods, try things they will find instantly and instinctively appealing, like bloodworm, brineshrimp, glassworm, blackworm, tubifex, and even ground shellfish.

Apistogramma are generally very strong on natural food instincts, sometimes to get their weight up it requires "real" foods, until they learn that the pellets are also food.

I recently bought an Apistogramma macmasteri,

Lovely fish.
Live foods.
The key to apistogramma is replicating their natural environment.
if i were you, id stick a peice of bogwood in there and let it leak tannis into the tank..

Anybody else think that's a few too many fish for a ten gallon? Especially for an Apisto?

Yeah, might find the apistos doing a spot of fin nipping and a lot of chasing in that kind of setup, territory will cause problems, and yes , the bioload is creeping up. Apistos wont like that too much.

Thank you! The Apisto is starting to eat more, now. She comes to the top of the tank at feeding time with the rest of the fish now, although she still seems to prefer the corys' food.

There's a piece of wood in there that the Apisto has claimed as hers (it forms a little cave, where I always find her in the morning), and I tried to rearrange it so she has a few more sheltered spots, as the activity of the danios did seem to bother her a little initially. She seems happier since the rearrangement, though; she doesn't hide as much.

I had been concerned that that was too many fish, too, but the guy at the fish store (who seems knowledgeable in other ways when I corner him and ask him four million questions) said that, while it was the upper limit, it should be fine. I've been testing the water every few days and doing 50% water changes weekly/as needed and it seems to be fine so far. The danios chase each other (although it's hard to tell if they're actually chasing each other or just schooling), but other than that nobody seems to have issues with anybody else (the Apisto actually seems to be the most docile one right now). I'll keep my eye out, though, and move either the danios or the platys to another tank if things start looking hairy.

Thank you all!

...you were, of course, right. Curse my arrogance!

Hours after posting that my fish would be fine, I came home to find one of the corys with his dorsal fin severely nipped. Needless to say, the danios have been relegated to a 20 gal. tank that I'm still trying to figure out what to put in...I'm thinking a green severum (if he won't eat the danios) or a couple curviceps (or dorsigera, I like them both). Any suggestions?

Id go with the curviceps or the dorsigera over the severum . Both curvs and dorsas have the same kind of temperament, you can even mix species, but sevs can be fine for months on end , and then throw a major strop and start killing small fish, I have a few myself, their personality is quite uhm... variable, plus they predate on small fish when grown up. Discus and angels they aint.Plus a 20 gal aint big enough for an adult sevvie, not even close. They grow really fast on a good diet, make discus look like they are in growth slow motion. Probably just go for one pair of curvs or dorsas.

Danios stay up and the mini acaras stay down and as long as not pushed for space in the midwater hopefully things shouldnt come to blows.