Hi Angelica, you certainly haven't ruined your starter, but all these changes in its diet and feeding routine may be causing it to become sluggish. Each time you make changes like this the organisms need time to adjust, and different organisms come into play, so it can take almost as much time as creating a starter from scratch to get your starter stabilized and rising well when you introduce a new type of flour. That being said, I still think you're a head of the game having experienced a predictable rise with your rye starter. And there is certainly nothing wrong with maintaining a rye flour starter, if this seems to work best for you; some bakers do prefer a rye starter. 

If you want to transition to AP flour or whole wheat flour these are also fine choices, but you may want to do so a little more gradually. And keep in mind that whole grain flours do ferment more quickly than white flour, so the rate of fermentation is likely to change when you convert to a white flour starter. Having a starter that peaks in a few hours seems like a great thing, but if you consider that you want to feed your starter again when it's at its peak of rising, or just beginning to fall, the more rapid rate of fermentation that whole grain starters deliver means that you have to be a bit more attentive to your feeding routine. Whole grain starters also tend to contribute more sour flavor, while perhaps delivering a little less rising power in comparison to white flour starters. 

I would choose a flour and stick with it, at least until your starter begins to rise predictably again. To keep yeast activity high it's important to replenish (feed) your starter at that peak of rising, or just as it begins to fall, so sometimes it's necessary to tweak the ratio of ingredients to achieve a twice a day feeding routine that works for you and your starter. While our normal sourdough starter routine calls for a 1:1:1 ratio (starter:water:flour, by weight), if you go back to feeding with rye flour and your starter is peaking after only a few hours, to slow things down you might want to consider feeding your starter a relatively larger meal (smaller amount of starter as compared to water/flour fed). This could mean feeding twice a day with a 1:2:2, or even a 1:3:3 ratio (starter:water:flour, by weight). If you're worried about using up too much flour with this process, you might also want to consider maintaining a smaller starter, at least until your starter is rising well. With the smaller starter routine your feedings might be something like: 10g starter + 30g water + 30g whole rye flour, twice a day. Once your starter is again rising predictably with the twice a day feeding routine you can consider it mature and ready for baking bread. 

Once your starter is mature you can give it a feeding, let it sit out for a few hours until it starts bubbling, and then refrigerate it for up to a week or even longer. Just keep in mind that the longer your starter spends in the refrigerator, the more room temperature "revival" feedings it will likely need to bring it back to its normal activity level for baking. 

I hope this helps! Let us know how it goes. 

Barb

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