TDK conference 2013

Does music as environmental enrichment influence the growth rate of Koi carp? Does classical music modify the growth rate in Koi carp? Does modern chill-out music change growth rate in Koi carp? Is there any difference between growth rates when Koi carp are exposed to classical or chill-out music? The above hypothetical questions gave rise to this study. The aim of the study was to verify if classical music does really enhance the growth rate in Koi carp as shown in the recent study performed by Vasantha et al. (2011). We also wanted to verify whether music or music in general enhances growth rate of Koi carp, therefore, as a positive control, we also included a third group with chill-out music to compare reactions.

A fourteen week-long experiment was carried out using 3x10 Koi carp (Cyprinus carpio). Three tanks were set up with ten fish in each one; Tank A, Tank B, Tank C. Each of them was set up to have the same water volume, water filtration, light:dark period, feed percentage intake and temperatures. Tank A contained chill-out music – “Deep House Mix” by Trevor Nygaard, Tank B received classical music – “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, while Tank C was used as a control and no musical stimuli were applied. Weekly changes in body weight, length and girth were measured and recorded: Data were used to calculate the weekly weight gain, the growth rate and specific growth rates after Brody (1945). The differences in growth between each group of fish were statistically evaluated for significance. The daily control of the fish behaviour showed, that the Mozart group moved more. The results gave a significant difference in SLGR (Specific Length Growth Rate) between Tank A and Tank B and Tank C (p=0.028), in SGGR (Specific Girth Growth Rate) between Tank A and Tank B and between Tank B and Tank C (p=0.019), in SWGR (Specific Weight Growth Rate) between Tank A and Tank B and between Tank B and Tank C (p=0.007) between the first and the last weeks. There was a significant difference between the final sizes of the fishes, too. Group two was significantly shorter in length with a p=0.013 and significantly smaller in girth with a p=0.04 then the other two groups in the end of the experiment. There was a difference in weight as well, but it was not significant (p=0.052). A body composition analysis revealed that chill-out group A had more fat and protein than the Mozart-treated fishes B, but less fat and more protein than the music-free control group.