Aquarist Atlas
Collection point · Lake Malawi · Malawi

Chemwezi Rocks

chehm-WEH-zee ROKS (approx.)

The atlas records 6 collection-point forms from Chemwezi Rocks, across 5 genera.

14.3039°S 35.2475°E

Chemwezi Rocks is a rock formation on Lake Malawi's Malawian shore, about 8 km north-west of Malindi.

Where it is

Chemwezi Rocks is at the southern end of Lake Malawi, 334 mi south of the lake's northern tip.

Nearest collection points: South East Arm 3.8 mi west · Nkopola 6.2 mi west · Crocodile Rocks 6.8 mi west

Shore, third and distances are measured from the coordinates above against the lake’s mapped outline.

The water

Lake-wide measured chemistry of Lake Malawi — collection points share their lake's water; site-specific figures are shown only where the literature records them.

Temperature75.2–84.2 °F24–29 °C
pH8.2–8.6alkaline
Hardnessmoderately soft, alkaline, well-buffered79 ppm
Conductivity≈250–260 µS/cmmeasured range

Nearest measured station: Monkey Bay (south basin) (~47 km) — Visibility (Secchi) 12.5 m

This site

Habitatrockyrock formation on the lake shore

Surface temperature here

Across Mar–Nov, monthly means run 73 °F to 81 °F — coolest in Jul. Measured by satellite 1995–2023: the daily median of clear readings within 10 km of the site (1603 clear days). The rainy-season months are usually too cloudy to measure and are left blank.

71°75°79°83°Jan: too few clear satellite days (1)–JFeb: too few clear satellite days (2)–FMar: 80 °F mean (77 °F–83 °F), 11 clear satellite daysMApr: 78 °F mean (75 °F–80 °F), 59 clear satellite daysAMay: 76 °F mean (75 °F–78 °F), 189 clear satellite daysMJun: 75 °F mean (73 °F–77 °F), 239 clear satellite daysJJul: 73 °F mean (72 °F–74 °F), 248 clear satellite daysJAug: 74 °F mean (72 °F–75 °F), 305 clear satellite daysASep: 76 °F mean (74 °F–78 °F), 300 clear satellite daysSOct: 79 °F mean (76 °F–81 °F), 170 clear satellite daysONov: 81 °F mean (78 °F–83 °F), 70 clear satellite daysNDec: too few clear satellite days (9)–D
Surface temperature by month near Chemwezi Rocks — dot = mean, bar = typical range (10th–90th percentile), “–” = too cloudy to measure.

Temperature: ESA Climate Change Initiative, Lakes_cci v3.0 (Asfour et al. 2026; doi:10.5285/a56dba09df8a42ec9fba8b8c7a5e1f69). Chemistry on this page remains the lake's own.

Sources
  1. malawi.si — Chemwezi Rocks, Lake Malawi, Malawi: location page and photo gallery

Each entry below is the population of that species recorded here — the form aquarists keep and breed as a distinct, provenance-labelled line. Crossing forms from different collection points is considered hybridisation in the hobby.

Aulonocara (1)

Corematodus (1)

Maylandia (2)

Mchenga (1)

Tropheops (1)

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