Hi John, you didn't mention how often you're feeding your starter, or at what temperature, but the pink/orange hue could be a sign of unfriendly bacterial growth, which could be related to infrequent feedings in warmer temperatures. Since wholegrain flours tend to ferment more quickly, they do require a little more vigilance in terms of the sourdough feeding schedule. If your starter is still early in the creation process and isn't rising much, you should be able to get by with one feeding a day, but if your starter is rising and falling predictably, then you'll likely need to feed it twice a day. Try to feed the starter when it's at its peak of rising, or just as its beginning to fall. If your starter is developing liquid on top (hooch) between feedings, this is a sign that too much time is elapsing between feedings. If you happen to live in a very warm climate, you may need to take extra precautions to keep your starter a bit cooler. It should be fine in temperatures between 68-80 degrees, but if it's rising more quickly than you can keep up with, you may need to feed it with cooler water or refrigerate the starter when you're not able to feed it in a timely fashion. If all else fails, you may have better luck purchasing a mature starter from us. A mature starter will be more resistant to unfriendly invaders than a fledgling starter and you may find you have less trouble maintaining it. For ease of care I would recommend continuing to feed it with our unbleached all-purpose flour, but if you're after a rye starter, you could certainly convert a portion of the starter by feeding it with rye flour. If this doesn't sound like what's going on with your starter, please give our Baker's Hotline a call at 855-371-2253. We'd love to help you troubleshoot! Barb

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