In this study, a baffle-plate bioreactor was designed and coupled with an adsorption column for the remediation of aquaculture wastewater. Specifically, baffle-plate was installed in the bioreactor to improve the removal of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), while the ceramsite prepared from steel slag and river sediment was filled into the column for the adsorptive removal of phosphorus (P). To evaluate the performance of the bioreactor, the operation conditions (e.g., hydraulic retention time (HRT) and C/N ratio) were tentatively optimized. Under the optimal operation conditions, the effects of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) on the performance of the bioreactor and the microbial community were comprehensively investigated. Satisfactorily, the removal rates of NH4+-N, NO3−-N and permanganate index (IMn) were all above 88 % before adding SMX. Moreover, neither IMn nor NH4+-N was influenced by the SMX shock, whereas the NO3−-N removal was significantly deteriorated owing to the inhibitory effect of SMX on denitrifying bacteria. As revealed by the analysis of microbial communities, the microbial abundance obviously increased in the aerobic (e.g., Azohydromonas and Chitinophagaceae) and anaerobic (e.g., Alkaliflexus) zone as compared to the initially inoculated sludge. Nevertheless, the abundance of most denitrifying genera decreased after adding SMX, leading to the inefficient denitrification. In addition, the ceramsite prepared under the optimum conditions had great void fraction (55.2 %) and water absorbency (29.5 %). The average removal rate of phosphorus by the adsorption column was 71.6 %. Overall, these findings may shed new lights into the coupling of bioreactor and adsorption column for the remediation of aquaculture wastewater.