convict cichlid egg bound?

[Ram897]

I have a 5 year old female convict cichlid who every few months gets real fat and refuses to eat. She sulks around in her cave and puts her nose to the ground and loses her beautiful orange color. I am afraid to put a male in the tank with her first of all because I don't want 50 babies and don't have the heart to feed them to the other tank and second because she has been alone for 5 years and I am afraid she may kill it. Any suggestions? Thanks. The top picture is how fat and pale orange she is this morning and the bottom is how thin and bright she was a while back.

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[Autumnsky]

Only one of your pics posted.