Did I plant everything right?

Hi, I just started my first ever planted tank. It’s a 30gal, I got everything including tank, filter, LED hood, 100w heater and gravel on the side of the road for free.

The only things I have bought so far are the fish which I owned previously in another established tank, and the sand. I say all this to emphasize that I’m on a bit of a budget .

Here are the plants currently. I planted the java ferns and the alernanthera deep in the substrate so they wouldnt float away, and the dwarf hairgrass I planted patches of 6-10 blades about a half inch to an inch apart everywhere in the substrate. Does everything look okay, and do you have any other tips for ensuring my plants stay healthy? I will buy fertilizer if i need to but I’d prefer not to spend a whole lot of money. I heard that dwarf hairgrass prefers really good substrate so hopefully my fluval is enough.

EDIT: Also I went around and trimmed every patch of dwarf hairgrass that was 2 inches or higher, is this too aggressive?

The Java ferns will die if the rhizomes are under the substrate. It's best to super glue or tie them off to something like rocks or wood

Rocky998 said:

The Java ferns will die if the rhizomes are under the substrate. It's best to super glue or tie them off to something like rocks or wood

Click to expand...

Oh my goodness I didn’t know that, thank you. I will move them ASAP.

Being on a budget and doing things on the cheap is the best way to really learn and find things out about this hobby. We are dealing with simple plants , for the most part , and generally hardy small fish. Anybody can buy their way to a nice tank .

Koenator said:

Oh my goodness I didn’t know that, thank you. I will move them ASAP.

Click to expand...

No problem! Just didn't want those plants to die off after you bought em' ...

Back in the fold said:

Being on a budget and doing things on the cheap is the best way to really learn and find things out about this hobby. We are dealing with simple plants , for the most part , and generally hardy small fish. Anybody can buy their way to a nice tank .

Click to expand...

It’s true, I wouldn’t be where I am with my humble aquarium knowledge if I wasn’t constantly googling if things are safe for my fish

Koenator said:

It’s true, I wouldn’t be where I am with my humble aquarium knowledge if I wasn’t constantly googling if things are safe for my fish

Click to expand...

Started out the same way

Koenator said:

It’s true, I wouldn’t be where I am with my humble aquarium knowledge if I wasn’t constantly googling if things are safe for my fish

Click to expand...

Forget Google, you have TFF now....

Slaphppy7 said:

Forget Google, you have TFF now....

Click to expand...

But... you can't get to this site without it

(Unless you have another searching tool)

Rocky998 said:

But... you can't get to this site without it

(Unless you have another searching tool)

Click to expand...

I meant as far as researching fishkeeping, lol....once you join here, no need to search anywhere else

Slaphppy7 said:

I meant as far as researching fishkeeping, lol....once you join here, no need to search anywhere else

Click to expand...

I know lol... I was just messing around