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In short, aquaponics is a sustainable method of growing plants that relies on the nutrients from fish waste.  The longer version is that aquaponics involves numerous complex processes that makes those nutrients available to plants.   

Solid waste (fish poop) is broken down and mineralized by heterotrophic bacteria, while ammonia, excreted across fish gills,  is broken down by various nitrifying bacteria to nitrate, the preferred form of nitrogen by plants.  Thus, filtration and mineralization are much more important in aquaponics than in aquaculture or hydroponics alone.

The fish are managed as they would be in a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) to provide optimal water quality, which in turn supplies suitable effluent to the plants, which can be grown in a variety of different methods ranging from media beds or deep water culture beds to dutch buckets, NFTs and a variety of other systems.

It is extremely important that solids be removed from the fish system in order to maintain optimal water quality.  Poor solids removal can lead to low dissolved oxygen and anaerobic conditions which could result in the production of toxic gases such as hydrogen sulfide.  Solids can be removed and mineralized by a hydroponic media bed or removed with  various types of filters and mineralized separately.

It is important to understand the many processes and optimal parameters to provide ideal conditions for your fish, plants and bacteria.