Efficacies of inocula on the startup of anaerobic reactors treating dairy manure under stirred and unstirred conditions

► We investigated impacts of inocula on anaerobic reactor startup period. ► Reactor performance was evaluated under stirred and unstirred conditions at 35 °C. ► In stirred conditions, granular sludge performance was better than other inocula. ► In unstirred conditions, municipal sludge performance was better than other inocula. ► Anaerobic lagoon's slurry did not improve reactor performance significantly.