Nathan,
Sorry you are having such a mess with your starters. It looks as if the starter is certainly active, but as with most cultures, time builds a starter with more flavor, but perhaps less quantity - at least that has been my experience.
When I sent away for the Carl Griffith Sourdough culture over a year ago, I received only about a tablespoon of the dried culture. To this small amount, I was to add only a tablespoon or so of equal parts unbleached flour and water. After letting this sit for several hours, I was to add a little more flour and water, and so on, gradually building up the culture in the jar. The culture never climbed up out of the jar, but just perked merrily along each time I fed it. Now, I keep it in the frig, letting it come up to room temp when I'm ready to make bread, feed it with one cup water and one cup flour, let it sit out several hours until it is bubbly, then remove (usually) one cup to make bread, then back it goes in the frig until next time.
It can take quite a long time to fully develop the flavor of a starter, something you may observe over time as you use this starter.
Your instructions my be different, I just wanted to pass along my experience with another culture.
pyegal
