The easy answer to this question is “A combination of aquaculture (farming fish) and hydroponics (growing plants in nutrient solution).” But there is much more to aquaponics.
There are 5 key elements of an aquaponics system. Each of these are necessary to run a successful aquaponics system. We'll go over each of these elements in detail below. The 5 key elements of an aquaponics system are 1) Grow Bed, 2) Fish Tank, 3) Fish, 4) Plants, 5) Bacteria.