Most
plants do best when tightly potted, but most will not tolerate bursting the pot the way a snake
plant will.
I assume your ferns are Boston ferns. Keep them moderately potbound, but not so potbound that you can't keep the soil moist. Unlike snake
plants, ferns do not tolerate dry soil at all.
Ferns also need protection from direct sunlight. Hanging outside on a porch is a good location.
If your city water is on the hard side you might want to switch to filtered, distilled, or rainwater. Letting water stand overnight won't help with hard water. It will help dissipate chlorine, but the amount of chlorine in most city drinking water is not concentrated enough to do any harm.