Heavy metal contamination is among the globally environmental and ecological concerns. In this study we assessed the development of the two green algae Schroederia setigera and Selenastrum bibraianum under exposures to 5 – 200 µg/L of Ni, Zn, and Cd in the laboratory conditions. Heavy metal removal efficiency of S. setigera was also tested in 537 µg Ni/L, 734 µg Zn/L, and 858 µg Cd/L. We found that the exposures with these heavy metals caused inhibitory on the growth of S. bibraianum. The S. bibraianum cell size in the 200 µg Zn/L treatment was around two times smaller than the control. However, Zn and Cd at the concentration of 200 µg/L did not inhibit the growth of S. setigera over 18 days of exposure. The S. setigera also grew well during 8 days exposed to Ni at the same concentration. Besides, the alga S. setigera could remove 66% of Zn, 18% of Cd and 12% of Ni out of the test medium after 16 days of incubation. The Vietnam Technical Regulation related to metals should be considered for ecological protection. We recommend to test the metal removal by the alga S. setigera at pilot scale prior to apply it in situ