1. When adding new species to your aquarium, you have to ease them in. Adding too many fish too quickly can cause the ammonia and chemical levels to raise quickly. Adding fish slowly gives your filter time to catch up.
2. Keep plenty of testing kits on hand, if you own a saltwater aquarium you should mainly focus on nitrates, PH, salinity, and phosphate levels. Never be caught off guard, make sure you have plenty of kits available to test the levels.
3. Catfish sometimes require freshwater as juveniles and then as they get old they will need a more brackish environment. Make sure you read up on your catfish to learn what its needs will be when it gets older.