Lake Malawi is part of the East African rift valley system (which means that it is in the East African rift caused by the break of the African tectonic plate in two) and is located in southern Africa. This is the ninth largest lake in the world and the third largest in Africa with a surface area of about 29,600 km. It is located between the countries of Malawi, Tanzania and Mozambique. The lake is often called Lake Nyssa, as there is still debt between the border countries. Lake Malawi consists of one large basin of about 506 km and a width of 75 km at its widest point. The maximum depth of the lake is 700 m and has an average depth of about 292 m. Lake Malawi is unusual because it does not have tides.
The lake is quite warm with a deep temperature of about 72o and with a surface temperature of 75 - 84o. The reason for the temperature fluctuations of 9o F is that the lake of Malawi is far enough south of the equator to experience certain seasonal fluctuations in temperature. The pH ranges from 7.7 to 8.6, gH ranges from 4 to 6 dN, and kH ranges from 6 to 8 dG.
The lake has several main cichlid habitats. The first is the sandy coastline, which makes up about 70% of the coast. Some plants live in this area, but not so much. Caps and peacocks use this as their habitat. The second area is the rocky coastline, which accounts for the remaining 30% of the coast. There is no vegetation here, and the rocks are stacked on top of each other. Rocky areas, as a rule, are located where the banks are falling steeply. Mbunas makes them their habitat (hence their name, which means "rock barker"). The third area is the mouth of the river and the area close to the shore, which is very overgrown. These areas tend to be shallow and can also be quite dirty. Finally, the deepwater zones, which extend from 30 m to 250 m in depth, are inhabited by some of the larger predatory cichlids.
