With help from the bakers here I started a sourdough starter about 3 years ago and it's still going strong, stronger in fact than before, it raises bread nearly as fast as dried yeast.
There have been times I've had to leave the starter for a few weeks and it's developed pink patches of what looks like me to be some kind of mould. I've never worried about it, fed and used the starter. In the last month even though I'm using the starter every week it's developing patches of this pink mould most weeks and I'm at a loss to stop it happening. My technique is to take all the starter, double it, double it again and then take 125g of that rich bubbling starter, feed it, let it sit for an hour and then fridge it. I've found that gives me a really strong culture. I've carefully ensured I have a fresh clean container each week but still I'm getting a sheen of pink mould after just a week in the fridge now. I feel the starter has moved out of balance between yeast and acid and I need to do something different to keep it in balance.
Are there any suggestions about what to do to get my starter into balance before fridging it? Am I by taking really active starter to put away not letting it develop the acids it needs?
I believe that some flours can give a pink hue even though I've never experienced it myself. I have only heard about it from similar discussions on this site. However red mould is different and you should be wary of it. Hue = Ok. Red Mould = not ok and you should really start again. Hopefully someone here can help you identify it. Perhaps attach a photo?
I would make a fresh starter, AND this time I would make a back-up. After the new starters been active for about three weeks, remove some and spread it on a piece of parchment and let it dry at room temperature. Place the dried flakes in a plastic bag for safe keeping in the refrigerator. This dried starter can be reactivated with water and flour in equal amounts.
Ford
There is some good information on Cultures for Health at this link. You have to be very careful with mold, as the bit on the surface is only a small part of the organism which can extend quite far into the substance that it's growing on / in. My Foodsafe course recommended discarding any food with mold on it because you can't see where the mold organism ends. If you are getting this growth regularly now it sounds like the whole starter is infected and you're not getting rid of it.
Take a look at this, my second post in particular.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/51062/red-tint-top-starter