Hot water heater question

This or the short variant of the same thing are what I was going to get. Need to confirm my spacing. What makes it so great?

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17 year old gas hot water heater has started passing what look like fine particles of rust. No leaks or strange sounds, but thinking it's time to change it. To the extent it matters, GE brand, 40 gallons, and natural gas. No issues with cold water.

Any disagreements or other thoughts?

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since it is a gas unit I would probably just change it. electric I would probably rebuild.

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17 year old gas hot water heater has started passing what look like fine particles of rust.

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When was the last time you flushed it? Ours did the same, flushed it, lot of sediment came out. Put a large sediment filter on the cold water line when I reinstalled it with new plumbing, anode rod, and a pressure arrester. No issues since and the municipal water is bad when it comes to rust and sediment presence. If still looking to replace then definitely go to a local plumbing supply shop, I got a better Bradford-White NG 60-gallon for the same as it would have cost to get a lower quality Rheem version. The stuff carried at big box stores always has cost cutting on parts that may be inconsequential to performance but always reduce longevity.

If it’s easy to access, replacing is so easy with it being gas.

Lowes has a Sharkbite kit that’s like $50-75 to attach the water lines. You’ll need a pipe cutter and something to clean the lines well. Screw the lines into the top of the water heater then slip the Sharkbite lines on the water lines and then connect the gas line.

The vent is screwed into the top of the heater. Then screw the drain line into the pressure relief valve.

My son helped me get our new into our attic and into place.

You’ll need to completely drain the old one.

It took me less than an hour.

I removed a 35yo water heater from my mil house a couple months ago. Never in its life been flushed but when I looked inside, it only had maybe a half gallon of shite at the bottom. I figure it would be 1/3 full or something. I'll still flush my own every few years but it was still interesting.

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17 year old gas hot water heater has started passing what look like fine particles of rust

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Why do you assume it's the water heater? If it's 17 years old = you probably have an older home, it could be the galvanized pipes that are creating the rust (assuming that's what you have of course).

As the other poster mentioned, replacing your anode with aluminum might be a good starting point. Just be very very very very careful when taking it off. It's a lot of pressure built up in there with very hot water so be sure to depressurize it first.