Hi Luke, You sound like a very committed sourdough caretaker, which is something we definitely appreciate! I'll start by saying that the life cycle of your starter sounds like it's taking the right course. It's normal for the starter to become slightly less vigorous once you switch to white flour; that's just fine. Your starter needs time to become mature and gain strength for it to resemble a classic sourdough starter. Little to no expansion is okay in these early stages--as long as you see some small bubbles, that means you have live, active cultures in your starter.
For round 4, here's what you can try: use King Arthur whole wheat flour on Day 1. The rye flour is probably just fine to get the adequate amount and type of wild yeast cultures, but it's a possibility that you could see a change with the whole wheat flour, so give it a try.
Leave the starter some place different to ripen and be sure you're covering it loosely. The environment determines the wild yeast that inoculate the starter, so try something different. Some place warm is helpful but not necessary.
Also be sure you're feeding your starter the right amount of flour and water. Discard about a cup of starter (8 ounces) and then add back in 4 ounces of flour (1/2 cup, measured like this) and 4 ounces of water (1/2 cup). This will give you a starter that is equal parts flour and water.
Regardless of the results you get after the first few days, keep feeding it. Once in the AM and once in the PM, roughly about 12 hours apart, storing it at room temperature. Give it a good few days of this, and then you can start keeping it in the fridge for about a week between feedings. The smell, appearance, and consistency will change once it goes into the fridge. Again, this is normal.
Be sure to check out our full Sourdough Baking Guide on our website for additional tips and tricks, and if you're still not happy after a solid go at round 4, consider giving our Baker's Hotline a call at 855-371-BAKE(2253). We get you a successful starter some way or some how! Kye@KAF

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