Ich, heat, salt and plants... help?

So I know that one of the best treatments for ich is heat and salt. I'm slowly raising my heat to about 86F, is that high enough? What role does the salt play in the treatment? I finally have some plants that are settling in and starting to show growth and I really don't want to kill them off by dosing too much salt. Is there a lower concentration recommended that will be okay for my plants, loaches and ottos?

My other fish are furcata rainbows, rummies, GBR's. It's a 29g, planted though no CO2. Tests are normal (amm, trite at 0, trate around 5, pH 6.5). Temp was at 78 and as I said, my goal is 86 unless someone tells me otherwise.

*sigh* If it isn't one thing, it's another. After spending the last week dealing with Brooklynella in my saltwater tank, now I have ich in my planted tank. It's enough to make anyone seriously consider giving up and getting a hamster.

Thanks for your help!

Thanks mr. key! It's good to know that at least the rummies, otos and GBRs will be okay at temperatures that high. And it's encouraging to hear that you managed to rid yourself of the pest using the raised heat alone without the salt. I think that's what I'm going to attempt at least for now. If I see no improvement in the next couple of days I'll revisit the issue.

As for raising the temp slowly, I'm hovering at about 81 still and haven't managed to get any higher - I think it's time to pick up another heater to help out. But how slow should I go? I was aiming for something like a degree an hour but is that too fast?