I buffed moooooooooost of the scratches out of my craigslist-acquired 240 with a Meguiars dual-action polisher. Much easier than doing it by hand, but certainly not the same results one would get with a true wet-sanding. I actually used a few car polishes before I bought the 3 stage kit everyone here recommends. By the time the acryilic showed up, the car polish had done most of the work. I've seen people use buffers attached to hand drills as well, but I bought the buffer so I might as well use it as often as I can.
Not sure how OCD you're feeling, but if I would do the test fill; note the worst areas, and then just pay special attention to those when buffing.
In regards to welding acrylic, I know everyone says its easy, but I've never done it. I did run a line of acrylic weld around the inside of all my seams for added peace of mind.
Good luck buddy. When it's up and running, I would offer to send Baki over for you to baby-sit...... and pellet train..... but I've learned never to trust a catfish
. Nine months without a tank was WAY too long!
