It could be the lighting, if its in the family room; he maybe gets super spooked if there's a bit of glare, that then gets covered by family members walking by etc
He does this whether the lights are on or off. At night I have all lights off and he just has his tank light on. It's an led strip that can be programmed to different colors. Mostly just use white and moonlight. But once again all conditions have been the same over the last 6 months and this just came about.