natural filtration is the way to go! i used to have a lot of turf algae growing on the screen in my overflow box but accidentally dislodged most of it during one of my very rare cleaning schedules. good thing some of it was left and is starting to grow back. now i think i should make a turf algae filter "intentionally" to grow more of it.
my tank has been skimmerless since dec2007 utilizing caulerpa and DSB to maintain my low bioload softy tank. but i think i could need more "upgrades" for phosphate removal. reading this thread is putting me into the DIY mode again. thanks for the post!