BigBen, thanks for the note about draining... I totally overlooked that part!
pHaestus, it was your article that prompted me to make my comments because I hadn't seen anyone else do this.
If I want to attach my resevoir directly to the pump without destroying the existing barb (i.e. not increasing the intake size), the only difference from an oversized tube is the intake length which is now effectively the length of the intake barb.
Is this logic right?