Cannister filters aren't designed to deal with head pressure, so I don't know that it can pump the water upward very much. If the two tanks are close in height, they'll probably equilize to a level that the pumps can sustain.
With two tanks side by side like that, you could have an aquatic jungle in the sump to process nitrates from the fish!
CKfish
__________________
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CKfish aka Charlie
|