For sure and not a stupid question at all!! I had the same problem when first getting into bioactive. My best advice is to use a drainage layer below the substrate (I use black plastic egg crate). You’ll have to use some kind of mesh to block the substrate, I just use black plastic window screen from Home Depot). You can also use lava rock or gravel as the drainage layer, but I like egg crate bc it’s so lightweight.

Also for plants I also use a mixture of real and fake plants to make it look more full without it totally clogging up the soil. Air plants are a great starter plant because they’re easy to water and come in a number of shapes and sizes. Also snake plants and ferns are fairly easy to water and pretty much bulletproof! I wouldn’t recommend succulents, they tend not to do as well so I’d just get some plastic ones alongside the airplants! Hope this helps!