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Has anyone kept over a peat substrate here? and if so what are the pitfalls and problems of using peat as a substrate....any other info on the species other than what is listed in the catelog would be much appreciated too.

I have never kept M. bimaculatus over a peat substrate but have maintained Chaca using a mixture of fine sand and peat as a substrate. It worked well and the Chaca seemed to like it. If your water has little buffering capacity keep an eye on the pH, but it should not be a problem with frequent water changes.
-Shane

Thanks shane, i've just picked up the first 2 of the 6 that i reserved at my lfs, almost fully grown in exelent health.. So with the peat it would be wise to use something to buffer the water to keep greater control over ph? I also asume as these are swamp fishes that subdued lighting is in order too.

If you have soft water (I think Cornwall has), then you will at least need to check the pH very often to avoid it crashing. Adding a bit of sodium bicarbonate or some other basic buffer would help to avoid it crashing all of a sudden.

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Mats

yeah unfortunatly it is pretty soft down here, all my other tanks are buffered by some coral sand which works well and have yet to crash at all, but saying that i've not yet tried to keep a tank as low as the 4 to 5.5 ph as called for in the catelog. So i guess ill have some coral sand in the filter, or ill just ad some bicarb to the water changes.

Soft water is both a blessing and a curse. I dislike the hardness of my local water, but at least if I use plain tap-water, my tank will NEVER crash the pH...

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Mats

True true, i sometimes think its easier to have soft water and add something to harden it, than it is to have hard water and try and soften it if needed. However it would be nice to have natural buffering so i didnt have to keep on adding stuff.