Convict cichlid never shows himself
Hi all. I’ve been keeping a male convict cichlid for the past 6 years, ever since he was a fry, and for as long as I can remember, he’s been paranoid to move about his tank. He’s been alone in the same 20 gal long his entire life, and is about 6 inches now. He spends his days hiding in the different pots I placed around the tank, and will only come out at night to grab his pellets.
Does anyone have an explanation for this behavior, and is there any way I can change it? I’ve heard this kind of hiding behavior is characteristic of African cichlids, but not Central American cichlids like the convict. Even if he’s not directly coming up to the glass like many cichlids do, I would at least like to see my fish out in the open. Recently, I’ve thought about trying to rehome him because the only thing that I imagine would get him more active is some stimuli, I feel like he’d be better off in a large community tank, which I can’t support myself. Any comments are appreciated. Thanks