I know this was posted a while ago, but I wanted to reply.
The last of my threadfin rainbows passed away over the summer. I took a summer job in another city this year, and I asked my old roommate's children to take care of the tank while I was gone. Now that I've moved back, I wanted to restock my tank. After checking out the local aquarium shops, I decided to do more research on freshwater shrimp. Long story short, I bought 4 whisker shrimp this morning (and I'm already considering going back to the shop and buying a few more).
Anyway, in the course of my research online, I came across this (
http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/ON/article/viewFile/332/324) paper, which addresses your question. It discusses the life cycle of these shrimp, and on the next to the last page (10 of 11), there are some diagrams of the first five stages of development. I think the whole paper is fascinating to read.
This is the first time I've tried a shrimp only tank. I've had shrimp before, but they were ghost shrimp that I would feed to my freshwater puffer. These guys put on a show the instant I put them in the tank. They floated down to the sand substrate and began gobbling up the bits and pieces of dead plant matter. They stuffed their mouths as if they hadn't eaten in a decade. Very entertaining.
