Aquaponics is a combination of aquaculture, which is growing fish and other aquatic animals, and hydroponics which is growing plants without soil. Aquaponics uses these two methods in a symbiotic ecosystem in which plants are fed the waste. In return, the plants clean the water that circulates back to the fish. Microbes play an important role in the nutrition of the plants. These beneficial bacteria gather in the spaces between the roots of the plant and convert the fish waste into substances the plants can use to grow!