I have a Blackbelt that I've raised from about 1" to now about 5" and he (probably "she", but I named "him" Bruce....as in Lee, LOL) is actually the more curious of the two I have in the tank. He's with a 6" Jack Dempsey and they tend to be a bit skittish as they mature anyways. Also, I don't have any kind of dithers and I was kinda wanting to just showcase the two cichlids. I'm sure yours is just getting used to the new environment and new feeding habits. What else do you have housed with it?
I will tell you what though, if you feed them well they grow pretty quickly and can look REAL good! Mine is really a glutton during feeding and eats at least 3/4 of the food I drop in even though the Dempsey is the dominant! He seems to have much more personality also. He acts more like an Oscar (interactively) than the Dempsey also. I am really looking forward to getting my Blackbelt to full size and developing a better relationship with it so I can see some more personality. I sound like it's a girlfriend, SHEESH!
Another thing is that my BB has taken lots of abuse from other fish I've had and has always been the underdog (always the smallest, and was the newest addition to about 7 aggressive cichlids) but always made it through just fine and all but the Dempsey have died due to aggression/disease. I have learned alot about these aggressive cichlids in the process and I'm doing well with just these two for many months now. The BB has almost gotten as big as the JD and will soon surpass him I'm sure! Bruce has always been smart enough to submit to authority but hold his own also. He seems to be very watchful of his surroundings, more so than the JD.....just my opinion! I don't mean to say that I don't love my JD also, but each has something that they add to the setup. My JD is extremely cautious of new food, and anything added to the tank which sounds kinda like your BB.
My experience has been great with mine and he's extremely hardy, interactive, curious, and hungry!
