My 1st Starter?

Keep on feeding.  I think you can now feed only once a day.  Good Luck!

Ford

First of all, keep going! All is fine!

There are a number of variables that impact all this. I can't speak with expertise on your specific starter for I don't use rye, but... your starter is relatively low gluten so it won't rise as much as a pure bread flour starter (which is what I keep). My 100% hydration starter fed by doubling (just like you do) will peak in about 8 to 10 hours if left out at room temperature and that peak will be about twice the volume of the where it began. With 1/3 rye I can envision that the gluten would be low enough that it might only bubble. (Note: a rising leaven will show a convex (bulging up) top surface. A past peak leaven will show a concave (depressed) surface at first and will eventually sag down to a more or less flat surface. At the peak the surface will be convex (bulging up) at the edge and be slightly depressed in the middle. If you are at work when it is peaking and it has already declined you can usually see a "ring" around the edge where it peaked as it went up and came back down.)

You say nothing about the temperature where you store the leaven. IF it is in the 70s I would expect the starter to  need to be fed twice a day if kept out. Down in the mid 60s once a day might be enough. I would not suggest cutting back by halving the feeding to once a day. At this point you want your leaven to get robust and healthy (which sounds like what it is doing). IMO going to once a day risks cycling it to a relatively weakened state daily. I think it is better to keep it robust!

Good Luck!

Jay

At 80 degrees your yeast will consume a 100% expansion in about four hours. I would suggest keeping it at room temp - even if that is 65 degrees. I am willing to bet that the rye is the reason you aren't getting an actual rise. Try making bread (but do it with straight bread flour) and I bet it works well.

Good luck!

Jay

I was wondering whether your oven with the light on might be too warm for the cultivating of the Lactobacilli and the yeast.  The following chart shows the sensitivity of two species to temperature.  The Lactobacteria (L.sf) die above 40°C (104°F) and the yeast die above 34°C (95°F).

Temp C    Temp F    L.sf    Yeast (C. milleri)
    2          36        0.019   0.004
    4          39        0.026   0.008
    6          43        0.035   0.013
    8          46        0.047   0.021
   10         50        0.063    0.033
   12         54        0.084    0.052
   14         57         0.11    0.078
   16         61         0.14    0.11
   18         64         0.19    0.16
   20         68         0.24    0.23
   22         72         0.30    0.30
   24         75         0.37    0.37
   26         79         0.45    0.42
   28         82         0.49    0.42
   30         86         0.61    0.35
   32         90         0.66    0.20
   34         93         0.66    0.05
   36         97         0.58    0.00
   38       100         0.39
   40       104         0.1
   41       106         0.00

  This is from the work of

Gänzle, Michael et al., Modeling of growth of Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis and Candida milleri in response to process parameters of the sourdough fermentation, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 1998.  Also in Sourdough Bread Science, eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters; http://www.egullet.com/imgs/egci/sourdough/science.html