Ebb and flow as I know about it, is a good substitute for VERY low flow pumps and is essentially a self flushing toilet and used to flood growing beds in an aquaponic setup. In these systems, solid waste should not be removed from the water per se, but added to the plant section where the nutrients can be broken down and taken up by plant matter. The turbulance created would, I think, be counter-productive to a clarifier being similar to a settling tank. This works okay if you want a system that is "off the grid" and use solar pumps.
I wonder about "the more flow the better" thought also. Too much flow and there is not enough time for seperation ...again, turbulance.
Just my opinion and first thoughts based on a lot of input from customer's experiences.
I can comment about algae in the bio-filtration process. Algae is a substrate for beneficial bacteria, and I main food source for nearly any species of tilapia. It can also clog nearly anything it enters. Your goals and system will determine whether algae growth is a good thing or a bad thing.
