Liquid layer between yeast layers in starter?

how thick is your starter? too thin and there's not enough structure in the starter to hold bubbles and they will just escape. I can't really tell from the pic, but it looks like there is some residue well up the sides of the jar. are you just missing the rise? an underfed starter will also produce liquid like this. how much are you feeding, and how often? and off course, what temp is the starter kept at?

congratulations, you have hooch forming! that's a sign of an active starter, just what you want. I would increase food ratio - go 1:2:2, or feed more often. increasing ratios is a bit easier. a new starter can be a very hungry beast, and you may have to feed like 4 times a day using 1:1:1 if you're seeing hooch forming. oh, give it a good stirring here and there during the day. no problem mixing the hooch back in, and the stirring will mix up the beasties and the food, giving them access to more food. let us know how it goes!