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This is one of the easier and cheapest ways to build your own stand. It is popular among fish owners but I want to share my experience as many pet owners may not be aware of this.
Build your stand using cinder blocks and plywood.
I had to upgrade my skink's 40 gallon breeder tank to a 48" x 24" tank. Finding a stand that fits that size is difficult. Then when you do find one, the lowest quote I received was $220.00.
To build this stand, I bought the following:
9 full size cinder blocks (16" x 8")
9 half size cinder blocks (8" x 8")
3/4 x 49" x 97" plywood
3 cans of black spray paint
This plywood was cut in measured pieces to create a shelf for storing items and for the top pieces. Additional pieces were used to create the screen tops for my tank (My tank did not come with a screen top and it must be custom made as this is a frag tank). After all that, I still end up with some leftover plywood for future projects.
Without the spray paint, it totals up about $40.00 at Lowes to build this stand. You may be able to save more if you can purchase this at a discounted price or have access to these items for free.
You may also buy paint for the cinder blocks and make it more decorative to your liking. See Google for other stands made by other people for additional ideas. These blocks must be placed where the holes are facing UP. You may have 1 or 2 blocks facing sideways just so the cords can go through but they should be facing up to keep it sturdy.
The only con I have for this idea is that you need to find a way to transport these materials. I used the entire back seat and trunk of my Honda Civic to carry these materials home... Slowly. And make sure you know where you want the stand before you start building.
Nice stand! And not only can you create a nice stand for hard-to-fit tank sized like your 40 gallon breeder using your design, another great thing about it is that it can be used with either the typical glass tank or with an acrylic tank (which can't be safely supported just along the edges the way a framed glass tank can be).
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