Keyholes have ich

[JackGulley]

I lost a couple of the tetras over the past week days but figured it might just be an unhealthy batch. But today I noticed my keyholes all have ich! I’ve been doing regular water changes, but I could never locate the body of one of the missing tetras so I wonder if that was eaten or if it’s leeching ammonia somewhere. I raised the temperature but haven’t added any salt yet. How much salt and what temperature should I use? It’s a 20 gallon tank. I can run to the store and get some ich-x if needed as well.

 

[JackGulley]

Ok, what the heck? All of my keyholes were covered in what looked like ich this morning, but I just looked in the tank again and there’s not a spot in sight All I’ve done so far is raise the temp from 79 to 82

 

[Naughts]

The ich have a life cycle - feeding on the fish, then they drop off into the substrate where they reproduce, and then they release the parasites into the water column where they find a host and reinfect the fish.
Salt isn't necessary, keep the heat up at 30c/ 86f for two weeks. If for some strange reason that doesn't work you could get the ich-X but the heat indicated worked for me. Don't combine treatments (heat/salt/medication) because it stresses the fish too much and each method reduces oxygen levels.

 

[JackGulley]

I wonder if they just had sand on them, but idk why the sand would’ve been stirred up because I hadn’t done anything, this was right when I turned the lights on in the morning
Edit:didn’t see your post while typing this @Naughts

 

[Naughts]

The sand sticks to fish when they have excess slime coat due to an irritant. Check your water quality and consider if any toxins could be in the tank. Try and get a photo when the fish are affected.