What In Peices Neme Did I Do Right?!

Oka, I pulled about 5 Java ferns, and other stuff out of the Petco dumpster. I kept the moist, and they lived on my side table for a few days. I gave them some water and stuff, and they did fine. A few days later, I went to Walmart, got some gravel, washed it, and planted my plants( I had absolutley no idea what I was doing, and I still don't.) I let the dust settle, moved a female betta into the tank, and patted myself on the back. I vaugley thought something along the lines of Hmm, don't they need fertilizer, and CO2 and stuff???
But I didn't do anything of the sort. I just left the plants as they were, and then stocked it about a week later.
They plants flourished, grew buds, and are growing new stems. They're big and bushy, and super-healthy. What did I do right???
There was a lamp on 24/7, not the aquarium lamp, but a reading lamp. Would that do anything?

 

Weird because java fern should not be planted, lol, rhizome needs to be above the substrate, not sure what other plants you have but if low tech like the fern then you don’t really need ferts and low light is fine. But I still like to use flourish once a week, worked for you though. Good job!

 

Can you post a picture of them? That sounds cool

Java ferns don’t need much to grow, they’re super easy plants to have.