Flocs used in this study were collected from a BFT sequencing
batch reactor with good contaminant removal performance that
has been stably operated for about one year in our lab. The reactor
was cultured using identically simulated aquaculture wastewater
as feeding solution (De Schryver and Verstraete, 2009). The influ-
ent C/N ratio was determined to be 10 (w/w) by using sodium ace-
tate (CH3COONa) as sole organic carbon source. The operation
cycle was determined sequentially as 60 min anaerobic feeding,
105 min aerobic, 10 min settling, and 5 min effluent withdrawal,
with a total cycle period of 3 h. Overall, a total granulation with
0.5–2 mm size distribution was observed in the stable phase, with
good settling performance (data not shown).