My guess is what u've gotten is a white convict. They will dig pits in the gravel to spawn. It is absolutely no worries if you cover his pit over when u do tank maintenance.... Gives the fish something to do; dig ANOTHER pit.
Many cichlids have this behaviour...if you get ur fish a mate, they will mate and lay eggs in the pit. Should that happen, then u should be careful not to cover the eggs in the pit while doing tank cleaning.