Clean Like a Pro with THE Shrimp KIT by The Bottom Feeder

Looking for a faster, lighter way to vacuum pools without hauling a cart? We break down the new Shrimp kit and stack it against the trusted Bottom Feeder to help you decide what actually fits your route, your pools, and your budget. From first impressions to field use, we get specific about size, throat diameter, runtime, handling, and durability—so you can choose based on results, not hype.

We start with why compact vacuums are trending and where plastic mini units fall short for pros: limited lifespans, hard-to-find parts, and hidden replacement costs. Then we dig into the Shrimp’s pro-grade build—LiFePO4 battery rated for 1,500 to 2,000 cycles, about 2.5 hours of runtime, a sealed magnetic switch designed to beat water intrusion, stainless threaded parts, and brass-plated connectors. You’ll hear how a five-inch throat keeps suction feeling strong, why the smaller footprint is a win on steps, spas, fountains, and water features, and what changes when you pull backward with a lighter head.

If you’ve relied on the Bottom Feeder, you’ll appreciate the context. Its wider head covers more with each pass and stays planted, making it a great match for routes with moderate to heavy debris. The Shrimp trims size without losing effectiveness, trading coverage for agility and making quick spot vacs painless. We also cover runtime versus charge time, the included 120-micron bag, the carry handle and 20-foot pole extension, and the current $1,199 price point—plus when that investment beats a cycle of disposable plastic vacs.

• compact versus coverage and how size affects speed
• battery tech, runtime, and charge times
• magnetic switch design and durability gains
• handling differences on forward and back strokes
• ideal use cases for steps, spas, and features
• why plastic compact vacs cost more over time
• pricing, what the Shrimp kit includes, and longevity
• how to choose based on debris level and route needs
• where to buy and pickup options in Las Vegas

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (01:02):
And welcome to the Pool Grey Podcast Show.
I recently got the shrimpcleaner or the shrimp kit from
the bottom feeder, and I wantedto go over some of the features
of it here in this podcast tokind of expand on the review
that I put up on YouTube to giveyou a better idea that if you
would want to go with the bottomfeeder or with the shrimp kit

(01:24):
cleaner, and they are different,so I'm going to go over some of
those here for you today.
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(01:45):
to help you succeed.
Learn more atswimmingpoollearning.com.
I, of course, have been usingthe bottom feeder almost since
the inception, and it's gonethrough many generations, it's
changed configurations slightly.
It's been basically the samevacuum through the years with
some upgrades, a new switch, andthere's going to be a new manic

(02:06):
magnetic switch coming for thebottom feeder as well.
The shrimp already has thatmagnetic switch, and I'll touch
on that in a minute.
And the selling point of thebottom feeder is the compact
size of the bottom feeder.
It's pretty compact to beginwith, and the shrimp is even
more compact than the bottomfeeder.
It's one of the more or lesssmall vacuum systems that you

(02:28):
get on the market.
The bottom feeder used to be thesmallest one.
It's 18 inches long, 11 inchesdeep, and then there's it's kind
of weird how it's shaped, butit's a pretty small vacuum
compared to say the Riptigite orthe Hammerhead, Ramora, you
know, anything that are the Ishould say the Riptide XP, it's

(02:49):
much smaller than those twovacuum systems without the cart.
It weighs about 18 pounds, soit's very lightweight with the
battery and everything includedon the bottom feeder, and so
it's the most portable vacuumsystem out there.
So was there a need for an evensmaller version of the bottom
feeder?
The shrimp kit.
Was there a market for it?

(03:10):
And I really do think the marketactually had emerged while
Glenn, the owner of the bottomfeeder, was making the shrimp.
It's been in the works now forquite some time.
He first mentioned it to me acouple years ago, and during
that period of time, the Kokitocleaners have really BWT and
Kokito came out with Kokito,came out with these small

(03:33):
plastic vacuums that almost looklike a miniature power vac.
If you remember the old powervac vacuums, actually, they
redesigned the power vac, sothey have a new version of it.
But it looks like they took thepower vac and they shrunk it
down into this tiny little body.
And it's of course smaller thanthe shrimp still.
The coquito cleaners are smallerthan the shrimp, but they're all

(03:55):
plastic.
And you know, for two or threehundred dollars, you're getting
a plastic piece of equipmentthat's really not designed for
commercial use, and or poolservice use, I should say.
And so they'll last maybe a fewmonths, maybe you'll get a year
out of one of them, and then youhave to buy another one.
The parts are hard to find, soif you break apart, you're

(04:17):
pretty much out of luck on that.
And is there a market for thecompact vacuum systems?
I think there is because evenPool Corp is stocking the
coquito vacuums now because thepool guys like them so much, and
they're really effective becausethey're really lightweight, you
can bring them back there, andyou can vacuum out or spot
vacuum a pool or spa with reallylittle effort or issue, and

(04:41):
that's kind of the emergingmarket, these little plastic
coquito cleaners.
And so, where does the shrimpfit in?
Well, the shrimp is, of course,a really well-made product, it
has professional components, soit's gonna last more than six
months, and you're not gonnahave to get a new one all the
time.
Now, of course, they try to keepthe price point under a thousand

(05:05):
dollars, but it's nearlyimpossible with the cost of
products and the actualtechnology that's put into the
shrimp itself.
I'll go over some of thecomponents to get an idea of the
amount of technology that theyput into this thing compared to,
say, those little plasticcoquito vacuums that you can
pick up on Amazon or yoursupplier.

(05:27):
It has a real battery pack thatgives you two and a half hours
of runtime.
Very similar battery that's onthis, it's on the bottom feeder.
So it's a LIFE PO4 battery, andthis is a very stable
lithium-ion battery, and it israted for about 1500 to 2000

(05:50):
discharges and recharges.
So that's quite a lot ofcharging ability before you see
this battery degenerate, andit's one of those things where
you're actually buying a productagain that's going to last you a
very long time.
Let me give you the dimensionsof the shrimp, it's 12 by 8 by
9, so width, height, and depth.

(06:11):
And you kind of get the idea ofthe size of it by comparing it
to the bottom feeder, whichagain is 18 by about 11 by about
the same 9 inches in height.
So it is definitely much smallerthan the bottom feeder, but it
does have the same build qualityas the bottom feeder.
In fact, it looks like a bottomfeeder that's just kind of been

(06:32):
cut down to size.
Now the throat is 5 inches, andyou may be wondering, it has a
smaller battery, it's got asmaller throat, it's a more
compact cleaner.
How does the power compare tothe bottom feeder?
And I would say that the poweris almost exactly the same
between both machines because ofthe fact that the shrimp has a

(06:56):
five-inch diameter opening orthroat.
The bottom feeder has a six-inchone, and you need the thrust
ring in there to kind of createmore thrust, also.
But since the diameter of thethroat is smaller on the shrimp,
and it has a little bit lesspower than the bottom feeder,
technically, you don't feel itbecause of the smaller throat

(07:19):
and the more thrust you'regetting.
So it picks up debris reallywith no issue, and you wouldn't
really even notice thedifference in power.
I've used both interchangeably.
I've used the shrimp and thenthe bottom feeder right after
it, and you really don't noticetoo much.
Now, what you do notice with theshrimp over the bottom feeder
are a couple of things based onthe size of the vacuum head of

(07:43):
the shrimp with the bottomfeeder.
So the bottom feeder, of course,is larger, it has a larger
vacuum, a larger area that itcan vacuum as you're going
forward and back.
Now, as you're moving the shrimpbackwards, you'll have to keep
pressure on it, downwardpressure, because of the way
it's designed, and it could liftup a little bit when you're

(08:05):
pulling it backwards.
You get used to it probablywithin a minute or two, and you
can make the corrections onusage pretty quickly.
If you're used to the bottomfeeder, it's pretty heavy, and
so it stays you know on theground pretty easily.
Where the shrimp tends to liftup a little bit, nothing
dramatic here, it's just adifference in the fact that the

(08:28):
bottom feeder is wider andlonger, and the shrimp is more
compact.
Now, the shrimp actually isperfect for step areas and spas
because of the compact size,you'll be able to vacuum steps

(09:00):
really easily, and it works inas little as four inches of
water.
Now, the bottom feeder works intwo inches of water.
It's mainly because of just alittle bit of design
differences.
Even though the shrimp issmaller, it won't work in as
small of a body of water as thebottom feeder would.
But four inches is pretty muchthe depth of any area that

(09:22):
you're vacuuming.
If you're doing water featuresor if you're doing fountains,
it's not really a deal breaker,in my opinion.
Because of the compact size, Ithink this would be much better
to use in fountains and waterfeatures and things of that
nature over the bottom feeder,which tends to be a little big
sometimes for those tight areasand those fountains and water

(09:44):
features.
Let me talk a little bit aboutthe new magnetic switch that
they've designed.
This is something that they'vebeen working on forever and
sounds like forever or feelslike forever, but it's been a
long time since their firstswitch.
Now, if you're like me and youuse the first generation of
bottom featers, there really wasno switch.
You just unhooked the cable andthat turned off the machine.

(10:05):
Kind of hokey, and so the switchwas created to give it more of a
real product feel, I guess.
I still like using it, which isuntwisting the cable.
But the switch, creating anunderwater switch is harder than
you think.
And this new magnetic switch,very similar, I think, to a lot
of the switches on the plasticcleaners.

(10:26):
The Kyokito has a magneticswitch on the back as well.
So this magnetic switch, youjust push down on it, like a
little gray tab, and it turns onthe cleaner.
You pull up on it and it turnsit off.
So it's definitely going to makethis switch much more durable
and long-lasting, and you're notgoing to have any of the issues
with water getting in there oranything like that with this new

(10:48):
magnetic switch, which is comingfor the bottom feeder as well.
So if you have a bottom feederwith the old switch, don't
worry, you can order the newmanics magnetic switch
eventually for the bottom feederas well.
Now there are a couple of 3Dcomponents, printed components,
that are used in the shrimp toconnect the switch to the

(11:11):
battery, and so it kind of makesit a complete unit.
It's actually pretty cool andpretty effective, and you're
gonna love this new switch, andit's one of the things that
again they've been working onfor a long time.
And this is one thing thatactually delayed the launch of
the shrimp.
They didn't want to use the oldswitch on it, so they kind of
delayed the launch until the newswitch was ready so they can

(11:32):
launch the shrimp in a completeform.
Basically, you have the compactbattery pack, you have the new
magnetic switch, you have theupgraded stainless steel
threaded parts on the vacuumhead and on top of the battery,
and you have the brass platedconnectors.
You really have a refinedproduct here in the shrimp.

(11:53):
It also comes with one vac bag,it's a 120 micron 22-inch tall
vac bag, and they're pretty goodbags.
The vac bag makes a prettydecent bag there, and it comes
with one of those.
It also comes with the charger.
Now, the two-way battery chargerdoes take about six hours to
charge the shrimp.
The bottom feeder, of course,has the new charger that charges

(12:14):
it within two and a half hours.
The shrimp has a slower chargerlike the old bottom feeder used
to have.
So in six hours it'll be fullycharged, but you do have that
two and a half hour runtime,which is a pretty incredible
runtime for a portable vacuumsystem.
It also has a real motor, likethe bottom feeder, with a real
propeller on the bottom.

(12:35):
So, unlike the plastic Coquitocleaners, you're gonna get a lot
more life out of the shrimp thanyou are gonna get out of one of
those devices.
You're just getting anall-around, well-built product
that's gonna last you a verylong time.
Also, the kit comes with ahandle, so you can put that
handle on and carry the shrimpback easily.

(12:57):
It also comes with a 20-footpole extension, and this is
really nice also because it'sbasically like the bottom feeder
portability kit that came out afew years ago, and it's all
built into the shrimp kit.
The retail price right now is$1,199, and there may be a

(13:18):
discount available in thefuture.
I think he has to get some ofthese products out and make some
money first before the discountsstart coming in.
But you're going to find that ifyou are using those plastic
coqueto vacuums, that the shrimpis something that you may want
to consider, you know, do themath and figure out, you know,

(13:39):
is this something that I want toinvest in?
Do I want to invest in somethingthat's compact and portable and
long-lasting with a real batteryand real workmanship?
Or am I going to just buy thesecheap plastic little vacuums and
keep using them until theybreak?
And so that's something that youhave to decide on for your
business and your business modelwhat works best for you.

(14:01):
But now there's another optionout there.
Besides the bottom feeder, youdo have the smaller baby bottom
feeder, it's called the shrimpthat can be used in conjunction
with the bottom feeder, ofcourse, or with the riptide
vacuum system, or with what anyother vacuum system, it kind of
has its own little category ofits own, in my opinion, because

(14:22):
now it is the smallest vacuumsystem or professional vacuum
system on the market today.
Would I recommend the shrimpover the bottom feeder?
That's really hard to say, and Ithink, of course, they know that
they're gonna probably lose somebutter feed em bodter feeder,
bottom feed em boder, bottomfeeder sales, I can't say the

(14:42):
word now.
They're gonna lose some bottomfeeder sales to the shrimp over
time.
I think that's what's gonnahappen.
Is that you know, for the pricepoint, if you're a homeowner
looking for a vacuum system,this is perfect for you.
If you're a pool pro looking fora compact vacuum system, this is
also perfect for you.
And it's going to definitely cutit into some sales of the bottom

(15:02):
feeder, which I think still isthe premier portable vacuum,
cordless portable vacuum systemthat's on the market today.
It's actually perfectlybalanced, in my opinion, the
bottom feeder is, and it hasgood power.
It's really good for about 90%of the pools out there that have
large leaf debris.
You know, there's some timeswhen you have really heavy winds

(15:25):
and huge amounts of debris wherethe bottom feeder may struggle,
but in most cases it's perfect.
And the shrimp is probably asmaller version for those pools
out there where you don't reallyneed to use a larger vacuum
system in.
You know, maybe the bottomfeeder is even too big for you
for your pool route because youdon't have a lot of debris in
the pools, and you're lookingfor something compact you can

(15:48):
use in spas and water features,or to spot vacuum pools on
occasion, well then the shrimpis perfect for you.
So I think there's actually twocategories here.
You have the bottom feeder usersthat are going to use it for
pools that get hit by a fairamount of debris, and then
you're gonna have the shrimpusers that are using it under

(16:08):
pool routes for pools thatreally have very light debris,
and they want something they canuse in spas again, and water
features and fountains, and ofcourse the shrimp fits that
perfectly.
So, back to the question I askedmyself: would I recommend the
shrimp over the bottom feeder?
I still like the bottom feeder,but I also like the shrimp, so

(16:28):
it's really hard for me to sayone is better than the other now
because both are good and bothserve a purpose, and both are
cordless, easy to use, andthere's something to be said
about the ease of use of boththe shrimp and the bottom
feeder.
It's just something that you'regonna have to decide for
yourself, you know, what sizecordless portable vacuum system

(16:52):
do you want?
Something as small as theshrimp, which isn't really a lot
smaller than the bottom feeder,but it is smaller than the
bottom feeder, or do you want toinvest in the bottom feeder,
which is the all-around portablevacuum system, and it's one of
the best vacuum systems on themarket today.
If you're interested in gettingthe shrimp, you can go to their

(17:13):
site, of course, is the thebottomfeeder.com and go to the
store, and it'll take you to thestorefront where you'll see the
shrimp there.
Again, that's the bottom thebottomfeeder.com, and you can
get the shrimp directly fromthem.
It ships within like one to fivedays, I think.
So you get it pretty rapidlyonce you place your order, and

(17:33):
you can actually pick it up ifyou're in the area where they
actually have their storefront.
Let me give you that real quick.
It's um in Las Vegas, 6672Boulder Highway, suite six.
So if you're in Las Vegas,Nevada, you can actually stop in
and pick one up yourself, uh,which is really convenient if
you live in the Vegas area.

(17:55):
If you're looking for otherpodcasts, you can find those on
my website,swingpoollearning.com.
And of course, on my website arequick links to the bottom feeder
site itself.
And if you're looking for morepodcasts, you go to the banner,
click on that.
There'll be a drop-down menu of1800 podcasts for you there.
And if you're interested in thecoaching program that I offer,
you can learn more atPoolGuyCoaching.com.

(18:15):
Thanks for listening to thispodcast.
Have the rest of your week.
God bless.