Matt's 64 Litre Tank

Ooops, that's a slightly unfortunate incident regarding fish size information. I'm with you as far as being reluctant to return any fish to a shop, and very glad to hear that you like the character of your new fish, even though they have caused your other fish plans to go on hold for a while.
I hope that the adorable behaviour of your cories makes up for the inconvenience of the situation. 

Thought it was probably time for a quick update...

I have added sponge to the filter recently; previously I just had loose filter media. Now I have loose media on the bottom and sponge on top. I was hoping for an improvement in water clarity and whilst I'm not sure I've achieved this, there is now more room for beneficial bacteria and I've eliminated any risk of a fish being able to jump into the filter and getting hurt so it's here to stay.

Not a huge amount of change in the tank layout.  A few smaller pebbles removed to create more 'grazing' area for the cories. And the plants are now all growing really well.  Amazon swords really took off so they've been relegated to the back of the tank and the hornwort has been thinned out and brought forward.  Floating plants might not last...will have to see.

I'm on a weekly dose of micronutrients and upgraded lighting with a siesta period.  Weekly 20% water changes. Mix of micropellets, flake, sinking pellets, bloodworm (and the occasional piece of algae wafer) fed daily.  Burst of airstone to clear protein scum on the surface every few days.

I'm hatching a plan to convert the filter to a external with the heater in it using a Tupperware container (tall one for spaghetti), but for the photo below I just removed it from the tank temporarily.

...anyway photo below!

Your tanks & fish are all looking great. Well done. 

Great pics @Matt .  Lovely looking tank(s) and quality photography.

I decided to have another go at this, so as before, any support you would be able to offer me would be much appreciated

I'm fairly confident the tank has improved dramatically since February when I first changed the scape... hope you agree!

https://fishkeeper.co.uk/gallery/

I'd appreciate your support should you be willing to offer it:
https://fishkeeper.co.uk/gallery/

I agree - the tank looks fantastic now and I have 'rewarded' you with a well-deserved vote. 

Slightly different photo below...

I decided to have another go at this, so as before, any support you would be able to offer me would be much appreciated

I'm fairly confident the tank has improved dramatically since February when I first changed the scape... hope you agree!

https://fishkeeper.co.uk/gallery/

You might have noticed an addition to my tank in my signature...

   Gobies!! 

More accurately... Stiphodon semoni, the Cobolt Blue Goby.

Pictures to follow in the morning when everyone is a little more settled in. Algae wafer went down a treat this evening though so I've got high hopes for them both. I got them from Maidenhead aquatics in Wigan which is a recent discovery. The tropical fish section is HUGE. Much bigger than in any other store I've visited more locally, plus the staff are really friendly, and real fish people rather than just sales people. Thanks to being right next to the M6 it also doesn't take me any longer to get too. 


In other news I've also had a bit of a rearrange in the tank. 
It was quite a spur of the moment thing following one of my regular deep cleans when the wood comes out of the tank and rocks are moved out of the way so everything can be thoroughly gravel vacced. Basically I have split one part of the wood away from the rest (it was always three pieces) and pushed all the wood into the corners meaning there is now more open swimming space for the fish. So rather than an island layout I now have a more traditional ' U shape' aquascaping layout ( for those of you into aquascaping ). 
I will admit that I probably preferred the look of the tank originally but the fish definitely prefer the new look. The contrast of hiding spaces and open areas has given them much more confidence and I see a lot more of the fish now.  Clearly the old addage that if you give the fish more hiding spaces they will spend more time out in the open is very true.  The otto which normally only gets seen once in a blue moon is now out every evening.  I believe I have also created more opportunity for territories to be formed for the rams and gobys which is also keeping them happier.  So the new look is here to stay. I'll post pictures soon, possibly next weekend, it's not quite camera ready yet 
I am planning to take things a step further soon too as even before I changed the layout, I really wanted to get rid of the marble pebbles and instead move to dragon stone. I have now also realised that this rock with its "pot holed" texture will be brilliant for the gobys to provide further hiding places/places to rest and more surface area for algae to grow.

Oh and I think I might be getting a 220l aquaoak for Xmas!... 

This is all very exciting, @Matt - congrats on the gobies, the promising-sounding new layout (all very interesting) and the forthcoming larger tank (very envious!).

Incidentally, have you ever visited Pier Aquatics in Wigan? I see adverts for it quite regularly.

Here we go...