It was a very long cold winter here in Medicine Hat. Never had hardly any Chinook winds at all and there for a while we had extended periods of prolong extreme cold. I can't ever remember heating the pond for so many months. Calgary broke a record the other day, they finally reached 20 Celsius, although it took 6 months, and that was the longest period between last day it was 20 Celsius.
I have been talking with my friend at Animal World, about a week or so ago. He lives on the outskirts of town, and he still has ice too and has not seen his koi either... Now he is thinking about running his ponds like mine and wants to build a marsh to flow his big pond into....
I think your right about air pumps causing thinker ice....
Good luck with your new and exciting pond dig!! Minnows are very tough fish and they look good in large schools. I have a few minnows mixed in my goldfish population. I have the black minnows and the yellow minnows. Same breed, just different colors some times.
