For a stable and reliable operation of a BAS-reactor a high, active biomass concentration is required with mainly biofilm-covered carriers. The effect of reactor conditions on the formation of nitrifying biofilms in BAS-reactors was investigated in this article. A start-up strategy to obtain predominantly biofilm-covered carriers, based on the balancing of detachment and a biomass production per carrier surface area, proved tp be very successful. The amount of biomass and the fraction of covered carrier were high and development of nitrification activity was fast, leading to a volumetric conversion of 5 kg(N) . m(-3) . d(-1) at a hydraulic retention time of 1h. A 1-week, continuous inoculation with suspended purely nitrifying microorganisms resulted in a swift start-up compared with batch addition of a small number of biofilms with some nitrification activity. The development of nitrifying biofilms was very similar to the formation of heterotrophic biofilms. In contrast to heterotrophic bio-films, the diameter of nitrifying biofilms increased during start-up. The detachment rate from nitrifying biofilms decreased with lower concentrations of bare carrier, in a fashion comparable with heterotrophic biofilms, but the nitrifying biofilms were much more robust and resistant. Standard diffusion theory combined with reaction kinetics are capable of predicting the activity and conversion of biofilms on small suspended particles. (c) 1995 John Wiley & Sons Inc.