I've had a hundred Bristlenose Catfish (they bred uncontrollably, well not quite uncontrollably but it took me years to catch them all!) in a six foot aquarium with my Clown Loaches and they didn't clear the BBA. It grew luxuriantly (against all advice at the time)!
I now control BBA (and other algae) by taking out the wood once a week, painting it with Glutaraldehyde solution, leaving it to stand for a couple of hours, soaking it in the bath for an hour to remove the Glut and returning it. I do the gravel vac and the water change at the same time. This isn't ideal as it is quite a big disturbance to my Clown Loaches and its possible to damage the wood in handling it but I like the way the tank looks. I can always go back to having everything covered by BBA if I decide its for the best.
I now control BBA (and other algae) by taking out the wood once a week, painting it with Glutaraldehyde solution, leaving it to stand for a couple of hours, soaking it in the bath for an hour to remove the Glut and returning it. I do the gravel vac and the water change at the same time. This isn't ideal as it is quite a big disturbance to my Clown Loaches and its possible to damage the wood in handling it but I like the way the tank looks. I can always go back to having everything covered by BBA if I decide its for the best.
