Aquarist Atlas
Collection point · Lake Malawi · Malawi

Mkondowe

m-kohn-DOH-weh (approx.)

The atlas records 1 collection-point form from Mkondowe.

11.0397°S 34.2194°E

Mkondowe (Khondowe) is a rocky promontory on Lake Malawi's Malawian shore, about 5 km south of Kakusa.

Where it is

Mkondowe is on the western shore of Lake Malawi, in its northern third (108 mi south of the lake's northern tip).

Nearest collection points: Kakusa 3.1 mi north · Nkhoso Point 3.7 mi south · Ruarwe 5 mi south

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: Salima (south-east shore) (~302 km) — Conductivity 235 µS/cm

This site

Habitatrockyrocky promontory with a baobab tree

Surface temperature here

Across Apr–Nov, monthly means run 76 °F to 82 °F — coolest in Aug. Measured by satellite 1995–2023: the daily median of clear readings within 10 km of the site (851 clear days). The rainy-season months are usually too cloudy to measure and are left blank.

74°77°80°83°Jan: too few clear satellite days (0)–JFeb: too few clear satellite days (2)–FMar: too few clear satellite days (1)–MApr: 82 °F mean (80 °F–83 °F), 10 clear satellite daysAMay: 80 °F mean (79 °F–81 °F), 50 clear satellite daysMJun: 78 °F mean (77 °F–80 °F), 124 clear satellite daysJJul: 76 °F mean (75 °F–77 °F), 138 clear satellite daysJAug: 76 °F mean (75 °F–77 °F), 195 clear satellite daysASep: 77 °F mean (76 °F–78 °F), 175 clear satellite daysSOct: 79 °F mean (77 °F–81 °F), 109 clear satellite daysONov: 81 °F mean (80 °F–83 °F), 46 clear satellite daysNDec: too few clear satellite days (1)–D
Surface temperature by month near Mkondowe — 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.

The site

A site photograph notes a baobab tree growing among the rocks at the promontory.

Sources
  1. malawi.si — Mkondowe (Khondowe), Lake Malawi, Malawi: location page and photo gallery (captions by Ad Konings)

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)

← All collection points