Crappy aquarium toy’s paint dissolved in my tank :(

[FishKeeperVibe]

I first bought my tank and rushed to get everything I needed a few weeks ago. I hadn’t quite gotten the water to the parameters I needed for guppies, and thank god for that— because the paint on this aquarium Gary decoration that my family wanted me to put in it totally dissolved . I hadn’t noticed because I had been adding tetra safe balance and dechlorinator a lot as my water evaporated, but eventually my mom noticed it was really cloudy and I took another look at it. And then I noticed . I immediately did a full water change and I’m going to thoroughly rinse the substrate, I’m so mad though— I had finally gotten the water to stay a consistent temperature and the hardness was going up :,(. But my question is, should I worry about dissolved paint being in the filter cartridge? Will I need to change the cartridge? I wasn’t planning on having to get a replacement filter cartridge for another month

 

[shakacuz]

change the cartridge eventually. continue cycling tank. put some carbon or poly filter in the tank, and maybe a water change if you're willing.