SUMMARY.An extensive limnological study of a tropical African montane lake (Little Connemara Dam No. 3) was undertaken in 1975 to explain the discrepancy between the high nutrient content of the bottom muds and the oligotrophic status of the water column. Little Connemara Dam (No. 3) lies in a small dolerite catchment. The dolerite is strongly jointed allowing considerable water movement and it weathers easily under high rainfall. A number of homes are built in the small catchment.The results of the study showed that the majority of the nutrients were being flushed into the lake from septic tanks via underground streams. As the dolerite weathers, large amounts of iron and manganese, but little calcium or carbonate, are released. The PO4‐P in the water column is complexed with the Fe and Mn allowing only small concentrations for use by algae. Nitrogen enters the lake mainly as particulate nitrogen but is not significantly converted to soluble combined forms of nitrogen at the low pH values (6.2—6.7) found in the lake. Bioassay experiments indicated that combined forms of nitrogen limited phytoplankton gro