Aquarist Atlas
Collection point · Lake Malawi · Tanzania

Nkanda

n-KAHN-dah (approx.)

The atlas records 15 collection-point forms from Nkanda, across 9 genera.

9.5442°S 34.0933°E

Nkanda is a site on Lake Malawi's Tanzanian shore, about 4 km south-east of Ikombe.

Where it is

Nkanda is at the northern end of Lake Malawi.

Nearest collection points: Ikombe 2.2 mi north-west · Wissman Bay 4.5 mi north-west · Lumbila 4.7 mi south-east

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) (~469 km) — Conductivity 235 µS/cm

Surface temperature here

Across May–Dec, monthly means run 76 °F to 84 °F — coolest in Aug. Measured by satellite 1995–2023: the daily median of clear readings within 10 km of the site (1106 clear days). The rainy-season months are usually too cloudy to measure and are left blank.

75°78°81°84°Jan: too few clear satellite days (1)–JFeb: too few clear satellite days (6)–FMar: too few clear satellite days (6)–MApr: too few clear satellite days (8)–AMay: 80 °F mean (79 °F–82 °F), 54 clear satellite daysMJun: 79 °F mean (77 °F–80 °F), 129 clear satellite daysJJul: 77 °F mean (76 °F–78 °F), 178 clear satellite daysJAug: 76 °F mean (75 °F–78 °F), 235 clear satellite daysASep: 78 °F mean (76 °F–79 °F), 245 clear satellite daysSOct: 80 °F mean (78 °F–82 °F), 158 clear satellite daysONov: 82 °F mean (81 °F–84 °F), 69 clear satellite daysNDec: 84 °F mean (83 °F–85 °F), 17 clear satellite daysD
Surface temperature by month near Nkanda — 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 — Nkanda, Lake Malawi, Tanzania: location page

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)

Copadichromis (3)

Labeotropheus (1)

Lichnochromis (1)

Maylandia (3)

Melanochromis (1)

Mylochromis (1)

Protomelas (3)

Pseudotropheus (1)

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