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My blue rams did fine in 7.8 and bolivians are considered a bit hardier so if you raise it slowly I don't think a .4 increase is going to harm them. Especially if they have been kept in that water for awhile. At the lfs they had rams spawning in 7.6 ph. My rams never picked at the healthy plants or moved the gravel around. They prefer a well planted tank. 2inches is probably enough gravel unless you want to heavily plant the tank or put in really big root feeders. My 10g has about that and I have a few vals growing that I moved from more overgrown tanks. You could go with any cories or loaches for bottom dwellers.

6 bolivians would be too much in that size tank. 2 pairs would be max and that my be pushing it. Your bolivians would be fine in that ph. Mine are in 8.3 and are vibrant and healthy. Bolivians tend to stay toward the bottom so they will eat off the bottom a lot. After almost a year mine finally just ate off the top. I would suggest a tetra school as dither fish. It's night and day between their behavior with tetras and with no tetras. With tetras they are active and playful. Without they sulk and are hard to get to eat actively. Cories would be some good bottom feeder fish to clean up leftover food.