Hi Sylvia, a starter that is maintained entirely with whole wheat flour is going to look and act a bit different than a white flour starter, so some of your observations about the bubbles not percolating through to the surface and the texture being thick may have more to do with this inherently different consistency, and aren't necessarily signs that your starter is lagging. In addition, if you happen to be covering your starter so loosely that it's drying out on top, this could be impacting the rise and surface appearance. The reason we say to "cover loosely" isn't because the starter needs airflow in order to ferment properly (it doesn't), but because fermentation bubbles can build up in a tightly lidded container and cause the lid to pop off. While a little looseness is okay, you do need to protect your starter from drying out, so it's fine to cover the container with plastic wrap (which will flex), or even the lid, as long as there's adequate room above the starter level for the gases to collect and you open the container now and then to vent the gases. 

It's a great sign that your starter has begun rising, and you definitely want to continue with twice a day feedings. You didn't mention your environmental temperatures, which are going to impact how quickly your starter ripens and needs to be replenished. Unless it's very warm or very cool where you live, it's probably fine for you to continue feeding with the 1:1:1 ratio (starter:water:flour, by weight), but try to pay attention to when the starter reaches it's peak, and then begins to fall, since this window of time is the optimum period to feed your starter to keep yeast activity vigorous. 

If you notice your starter is peaking after only a few hours, then this is a sign that you might want to reduce the percentage of starter relative to water and flour you're feeding it, which will help slow things down and hopefully line up your twice a day feedings closer to the peak. 

However, if it's taking longer than 12 hours for your starter to peak, this may be a sign that you need to warm up your environment a bit. Anything in the 68-80F range should be okay. 

I know it sounds like this may go on forever, but I actually think that your starter is very close to maturity. If you're worried about the amount of flour you're using during the creation process, you could consider switching to a smaller starter, at least until your starter begins rising predictably. I mention this also because I maintain my whole wheat starter as a smaller starter, and I know that's possible to see the starter doubling when fed 1:1:1 (20g each of starter, water and flour) in this type of jar, so this may be a good way for you to double check your actual progress. 

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

Barb

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