Best Way To Plumb Multi Tank System?

I've been keeping fish for a long time but have never tried to build a multi tank system. All of my tanks have been their own system with the use of a canister filter or canister + wet/dry.

Most of the multi tank systems that I see have the water going into a sump through pvc piping and a hole drilled out of the tank for the water to run out of. It doesn't look like that method would have very good mechanical filtration and be able to remove all of the poop from the bottom of each tank. Am I missing something? What is the best way? Are there any good articles or videos online you can link me to?

Thanks!

So is the above pretty much the only way to do it? I was hoping there was a way to utilize a traditional canister inlet to suck up the poop. I'm getting back into breeding plecos and would rather not disturb them by vacuuming all the time if possible.

Does the above method do as good of a job of collecting the poop at the bottom of the tank as a canister would?

Another concern is having babies and possibly the adult plecos swim into the drain hole. I was thinking that I could probably put a sponge in the hole to block it but then I think it would probably get clogged pretty often. Any suggestions?

So it looks like that's the only way to do it?