Plastic in suburban water heater

[Eagleback]

Hello
I just changed my anode rod and when i was flushing out the heater pieces of black and clear plastic came out. The pieces are thin like plastic sheeting like it was wraped around somthing in the heater. The heater works fine gas and electric
Any ideas or concerns

[rohrmann]

I think what you are seeing is mineral deposits that accumulated on the inside surfaces of the water heater tank and had broken loose and fell to the bottom of the tank. The dark pieces may be particles of the porcelain glass lining that have broken off. All that debris is normal and another reason to perform this maintenance task on an annual basis. I change out the anode annually regardless of what it looks like and I use the magnesium rod like what the water heater came with originally. If I’m removing it to clean out the tank, a new one is going back in. It’s not worth it to save a couple dollars at the risk of not having a good anode which protects the tank. We full time too and experience many different water conditions as we travel.

[BB_TX]

I get a lot of crud from the anode rod in the bottom of my tank ranging from dark grey to near white. But nothing that really looks like plastic.

[Eagleback]

Literately it is clear and black plastic. it looks like some one shredded plastic as big as 1"x1" pieces and thin and flexible like plastic drop cloths and it came out when i flushed my water heater. I cant think where it came from as i flush and replace the anode rod every year. What is inside that's plastic in the suburban water heater and could break down and come off. I wish i took pictures of all of it.