Ten algal strains; six blue greens, three greens and one diatom were used to build up twenty types of small laboratory-scale biofilters. Algal strains were inoculated on four carriers (sand, silt, cotton and sponge). Biofilters were used to bioremove different heavy metals from highly toxic industrial effluents from the Egyptian industry. Cotton and sponge biofilters proved to be better candidates to remove all tested heavy metals than sand and silt ones. Moreover, toxicity assessment of raw and filter-treated effluents using standard test alga Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata showed that the cotton followed by sponge algal filters were the highest efficient biofilters capable to reduce effluent toxicity than sand and silt biofilters. Thus algal biofilters offer an economically feasible technology for efficient removal and recovery of metals from industrial wastewater.