Weird Growths?

[Anasfire]

Ok for a while now I've been noticing these weird growths in my 3.5ft community tank...actually to be honest I've noticed them ever since I set it up which was back in late June. They seem to grow out of the gravel and clump it together as well on the glass and the lava rocks. I assumed at first that it was algae and hoped the pleco's would eat it but they don't touch it at all so I just remove it with a net whenever I notice it. However, I would like to know what it is and if there is some way to kill it without using algae killer because obviously then the pleco's wouldn't have anything to eat as it would kill the good and bad algae!

Please find below some photo's of it.. excuse the bad photography my partner took them and he's not the most adept with a camera. PS I've circled the weird ones that grow out of the gravel in the first pic with red.

Does anyone know what it is, what causes it as well as treatment?

Any posts would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

[Callatya]

It looks a bit like fungus *puzzled* The ones on the gravel look like fungussed food, but the one on the rock... not sure why that'd be there. It is the right colour though.

Does it come off if you scrub it? Can you suck it up easily with a gravel vac?

If it is fungus, I think a thorough clean should get it to manageable. If the fish are avoiding it then I doubt it would cause them any problems. Not really sure how you'd get rid of it without throwing a bundle of meds in there, perhaps altering the water conditions somehow?