Hours before the crucial football match, that would see Birkirkara win the Premier league, goalkeeper Justin Haber was changing the filters of three of his 80 aquariums to relax before the crunch game.

Before a game, my method of meditation is to stay in front of an aquarium to calm down

“As a goalkeeper my game is different to other players’… I have to be more focused to try to save.

Before a game, and sometimes after, my method of meditation is to stay in front of an aquarium to calm down.

“There I can switch off,” the 31-year-old says.

His eyes sparkle with enthusiasm as he talks about his passion – and this time it is not football but the quiet, watery world of aquariums.

“As a footballer, people know you for what you are and not who you are. People don’t ask me: ‘Justin, how are you?’ They say: ‘What you doing this winter? Are you going to win? Why didn’t you catch that ball?’

“So it’s nice to take a break from that and my aquariums are that break,” the national team player says.

His hobby started when he was 10 and had to spend three days in hospital.

“They had an aquarium in the Fairyland ward and I spent my three days in hospital in front of this aquarium… there were about five angelfish and two were like a couple, always together.

“Now I know they were preparing to make their little ones,” he says with a smile, adding that angelfish remain his favourite.

When he went home from hospital his father and grandfather surprised him with an aquarium they had built for him.

They then took him to the pet shop to choose his first fish.

But something was wrong. The fish he picked died after a few days. They eventually found out that the sealer used to build the aquarium was toxic.

This sparked a fascination with the mechanics and chemistry of aquariums.

After that, they bought him a proper aquarium and, this time, the fish survived.

“One morning I woke up and found that one of the mollies had ‘babies’ and suddenly there were more than 40 fish. I went crazy and ended up waking up early before school to count them and make sure they were all OK,” he recalls.

This sudden increase in fish meant he needed another aquarium. After that, the number of fish tanks kept spiralling.

His mother was not amused but he had a partner in crime – his grandfather, Joseph Mifsud Grech.

“My nannu gave me a room on his roof to use for my aquariums. He was my best friend, God rest his soul. He taught me how to dive and fish – all sea related. On weekends we used to stay watching documentaries about the sea.

“I side with Inter because of my nannu… If you ask me to name five Inter players I’ll struggle. But if you tell me to name the last five fish they discovered I will tell you where they are from, how they breed and the pH level they need,” he smiles.

Although he is no avid reader, he has read countless books on fish. Apart from that, during his football travels, he spent days volunteering in public aquariums.

When he played for Sheffield United, he volunteered at Blue Planet Aquarium in Cheshire and The Deep Aquarium in Hull.

Over the years he realised that pet stores sell fish at ridiculously high prices, which meant fish enthusiasts could not afford to enjoy their passion.

So a year ago he got a licence and started importing fish, which he keeps in Floriana and looks after with the assistance of his two friends and helpers, Robert Borg and Nimrod Mifsud.

There, among the various species of fish, lives Ġanni – their mascot Blue zaire frontosa.

Just like football, for the past four years Haber has taken his love for fish to a national level – he has been involved as a volunteer consultant with the national aquarium being built in Qawra.

“Friends call me crazy that I put in so much time for nothing in return. But I’m proud to give my input for this important project.

“It’s something national and I’m very passionate about my country,” he says.